UC Irvine Wins Hawaii Outrigger Invitational
Jan. 12, 2015 MPSF Volleyball Release 2
UC IRVINE (0-0 MPSF/3-1 Overall) captured the 21st annual Hawaii Outrigger Resorts Invitational title (Jan. 8-11), defeating Penn State in five sets, followed by 3-0 wins over Ohio State and Hawaii. It was the Anteaters' first appearance in the 21-year history of the tournament. UCI hit .526 (51-11-76) and served nine aces vs. UH in the Sunday finale. Tamir Hershko was named Most Outstanding Player, hitting .696 on17 kills and just one error in 23 attempts vs. the Warriors. He served five aces vs. Penn State. Hershko put away 45 kills with a .544 clip through the three matches in Honolulu. Michael Saeta (9 aces, 10.45 A/S, .385 team %) and Zach La Cavera (36 K/.351/12 B) were also all-tournament selections.
UC SANTA BARBARA (0-0 MPSF/4-0 Overall) won all four home matches to open the season, 3-0 sweeps over St. Francis, Princeton, and Limestone, and a 3-1 outcome over IPFW. The Gauchos faced the latter three opponents in the UCSB/Asics Invitational. Jake Staahl hit .606 for the week (22-2-33) along with 21 blocks (1.62 B/S). Weston Nielson tallied 33 kills over nine sets (3.67 K/S) and totaled 38 points (4.22 P/S). Matt Marsh served five aces vs. Limestone.
LONG BEACH STATE (0-0 MPSF/3-0 Overall) swept through the UCSB Asics Invitational with 3-0 wins over Limestone, Princeton, and St. Francis. Dan Glamack recorded a career-high 16 kills with a .538 hitting attack against SFU. Cody Martin had 14 kills vs. Limestone.
UCLA (0-0 MPSF/3-0 Overall) went 3-0 at the UCSB Asics Invitational, defeating St. Francis and IPFW in four sets and Limestone in three. The Bruins served 15 aces against Limestone, a new school record, and the second most by an MPSF team since 2009. Michael Fisher and Mitch Stahl served five of those aces apiece. Trent Kersten had four block solos against IPFW.
PEPPERDINE (0-0 MPSF/4-0 Overall) is off to a 4-0 start with two more wins last week, defeating George Mason in the home openers in Malibu, 3-0 and 3-1. Scott Rhein hit .406 (17-4-32) in the series, while Josh Taylor combined for a high of 29 kills (4.14 K/S) at .340. Matt West dished 76 assists (10.86 A/S), leading to a .308 series attack for the Waves, and picked up a high of 15 digs through the seven sets.
HAWAII (0-0 MPSF/3-1 Overall) hosted the 21st annual Outrigger Resorts Invitational (Jan. 8-11), and came away with two of three. The Warriors took down Ohio State in four and Penn State in three to place second. Sinisa Zarkovic combined for 48 kills (4.80 K/S) with a .352 attack rate in the tournament. He had 20 kills vs OSU and tied a career-high .500 clip vs. UCI (13-3-20). Davis Holt totaled 13 blocks (1.30 B/S) and Brook Sedore seven aces through the weekend.
CAL BAPTIST (0-0 MPSF2-1 Overall) swept road matches at Holy Names and UC Merced (Jan. 9-10). 17 points was as close as anyone came to the Lancers through the six sets. Jonathan Tuttle and Roy Powell served five aces each vs. UCM, as the Lancers fired away a program-high tying 16 as a team, and the most by an MPSF team since 2009. Cal Baptist hit .627 (36-4-51) in that match, the fourth-highest hitting percentage by an MPSF team in the rally scoring era (since 2001). Zachary Melcher guided that effort by setting 24 assists (8.00 A/S). Enrique de Diego Garcia hit .692 for the week (19-2-26).
BYU (0-0 MPSF/1-1 Overall) split its first two matches as it traveled to the AVCA Showcase at Stanford. The Cougars defeated Lewis in five sets on Jan. 10. Jake Langlois led the Cougars with a career-high 22 kills, to go along with five digs and six blocks. Robbie Sutton collected 49 assists and nine digs, while Jaylen Reyes chipped in a team-high 12 digs. Joseph Grosh led with 10 blocks while adding nine kills and Tim Dobbert also contributed double-digit kills wtih 14.
USC (0-0 MPSF/1-0 Overall) came back from a first set loss to win in five at Grand Canyon in the season opener on Jan. 7. Alex Slaught had 16 kills (.333), while Christopher Orenic added 14 along with seven blocks and three aces. Robert Feathers had 11 kills and five blocks, and Chris Lischke eight blocks off the bench. Micah Christenson dished a 2015 conference-high 52 assists in the win.
UC SAN DIEGO (0-0 MPSF/1-1 Overall) fought back from a two-set deficit at Grand Canyon (Jan. 10) to win in five. Shayne Beamer and Tanner Syftestad each tallied 14 kills, with Beamer hitting .458. Tyler Bird picked up a 2015 MPSF-high 17 digs. UCSD outhit GCU in the fifth set, .368-.111, en route to a 15-10 win.
CSUN (0-0 MPSF/1-2 Overall) swept St. Francis at the UCSB Tournament, finishing the weekend 1-2. Greg Faulkner delivered a match-high 12 kills (.381), along with five blocks, while the Matadors also got 11 kills from Sam Holt and a career-high 10 from Bradley Sakaida in the win. Faulkner and fellow middle Brian O'Gorman combined to hit .375 in the win, with the latter also having three block solos. Damani Lenore hit a collective .389 (26-5-54) in two matches against Princeton and IPFW.
STANFORD (0-0 MPSF/1-2 Overall) dropped straight-set matches to Lewis and Loyola-Chicago as it hosted the AVCA Showcase. Conrad Kaminski (.438) and Alex Stephanus each tallied eight kills vs. Lewis.