Three Teams Successful in 2015 Openers
Jan. 5, 2015 MPSF Volleyball Release 1
STANFORD (0-0 MPSF/1-0 Overall) won its season opener on the farm last Friday, 3-1 over UC Santa Cruz, with eleven Cardinal players seeing court time. The Cardinal outhit the Banana Slugs .301-.008. Conrad Kaminski hit .800 with eight kills on 10 errorless swings, to go along with six blocks. Daniel Tublin had a team-high 10 kills in addition to eight digs and three blocks. Alex Stephanus tallied nine kills and six blocks in his first collegiate start. Stanford hosts NCAA Play-in participant Lewis and defending national champion Loyola-Chicago this weekend (Jan. 9-10).
HAWAII (0-0 MPSF/1-0 Overall) hosts the 21st annual Outrigger Resorts Invitational this week (Jan. 8-11). The Warriors meet Ohio State Thursday, Penn State Friday, and UC Irvine Sunday. Hawaii began the season on Jan. 3 with a 3-0 home sweep of Stevens Tech, backed by a .407 overall team hitting percentage. Taylor Averill was 13 for an errorless 21 (.619) and tallied five blocks, while Sinisa Zarkovic added nine kills with a .364 clip. Hawaii owned an 8-1 blocking advantage.
PEPPERDINE (0-0 MPSF/1-0 Overall) begins its season with a two-match road series with first-year program North Greenville from Conference Carolinas. The first match (Jan. 3) resulted in a straight-set win. Nine Waves' scored in the match, led by Mitchell Penning with 7.5 points in his first collegiate start, combining for five kills and five blocks. Pepperdine hit .378 in the opener. The series finale is played Monday (Jan. 5). The Waves' home openers are Jan. 9 & 11 in a two-match series with George Mason.
BYU (0-0 MPSF/0-0 Overall) opens its season against Loyola-Chicago Friday and Lewis Saturday, both played at the AVCA Showcase at Stanford. The Cougars are the back-to-back defending MPSF Champions, becoming the quickest team in MPSF history to clinch the conference tournament's No. 1 seed in 2014.
UC IRVINE (0-0 MPSF/0-0 Overall) has a busy opening week with four matches. The Anteaters host Lewis Monday (Jan. 5), before traveling to the Hawaii Outrigger Resorts Invitational (Jan. 8-11). In Honolulu, UCI faces Penn State Thursday, Ohio State Friday, and Hawaii Sunday.
UC SANTA BARBARA (0-0 MPSF/0-0 Overall) hosts St. Francis Thursday (Jan. 8) to start 2015, followed by the UCSB Asics Invitational Friday (Jan. 9) and Saturday (Jan. 10). The Gauchos meet St. Francis and Limestone on the first day and IPFW on the second day.
UCLA (0-0 MPSF/0-0 Overall) takes on St. Francis and IPFW Friday, followed by Limestone Saturday at the UCSB Asics Invitational to officially start its 2015 season. The Bruins had a straight-set exhibition home win over Alberta (Jan. 3) and host Laval University for a final tune-up Monday (Jan. 5). Clayton Paulin was 15 for an errorless 24 (.625), while the team hit .452 and served nine aces against Alberta.
USC (0-0 MPSF/0-0 Overall) travels to Grand Canyon Wednesday (Jan. 7) for its 2015 opener. The Trojans swept the No. 1 ranked Canadian program and defending champion Alberta on New Year's Eve in a home exhibition contest. USC held a .316-.097 hitting advantage, with Alex Slaught and Cristian Rivera having nine kills each.
CS NORTHRIDGE (0-0 MPSF/0-0 Overall) competes in the UCSB Asics Invitational this weekend, facing IPFW and St. Francis Friday, as well as Princeton Saturday. The Matadors host a Tuesday exhibition against Laval University.
LONG BEACH STATE (0-0 MPSF/0-0 Overall) competes in the UCSB Asics Invitational this weekend, taking on Princeton and Limestone Friday, and St. Francis Saturday.
UC SAN DIEGO (0-0 MPSF/0-0 Overall) visits Concordia (CA) Wednesday (Jan. 7) and Grand Canyon Saturday to begin the season.
CAL BAPTIST (0-0 MPSF0-0 Overall) opens its season at home against Ohio State Tuesday (Jan. 6), before traveling to Holy Names Friday and UC Merced Saturday.