BYU Visits USC In First-Place Battles
Feb. 9, 2015 MPSF Volleyball Release 6
BYU (7-1 MPSF/8-2 Overall) made it 34 consecutive home wins with 3-1 and 3-0 wins over Cal Baptist (Feb. 6-7), and enters this week in a first-place tie with USC. The Cougars visit the Galen Center Thursday and Friday (Feb. 12-13). Joe Grosh hit a 2015 season-best .800 (Min. 12 kills), going 12 for an errorless 15 in the four-set match against the Lancers. He went on for a .722 series clip (14-1-18), along with a series high 1.67 blocks per set. Brenden Sander recorded series-highs of 21 kills (3.50 K/S) and 27.5 points (4.58 P/S). The Cougars are at the top of the conference with 2.97 blocks per set, led by Grosh with a 1.29 average. Jake Langlois averages 3.46 kills per set.
USC (7-1 MPSF/8-1 Overall) is coming off an incredibly wild two-match series at Hawaii. The Trojans enter the week tied for first with BYU, thanks to a 20-18 set five victory on the second night in Honolulu (Feb. 6). Ironically, that same fifth set score went the Warriors way in the first match (Feb. 4). Six of the 10 sets had gone deuce. In the win, USC was down 13-10 and eventually a match point before the comeback. Christopher Orenic accumulated 41 kills through the 10 sets, hitting .317. He served three aces in the win and had eight digs each night. Micah Christenson served a high of seven aces and shared a high of 13 blocks in the series. The Trojans have the top-two hitters in the MPSF in Andy Benesh (.508) and Robert Feathers (.491).
HAWAII (4-2 MPSF/7-3 Overall) fought back from a two-set deficit in the first of the two home matches with USC (Feb. 4) to win in five. The Warriors had to also kill off two separate match points in the fifth, down 16-15 and 17-16, en route to the 20-18 outcome. Brook Sedore tallied a series-high 42 kills (.373), including 22 (.390) in the win. He added six aces through the 10 sets. Taylor Averill hit .510 (29-4-49) through the 10 sets, and shared a two-match high 13 blocks (1.30 B/S). He is hitting .475 for the year, ranking third in the MPSF.
PEPPERDINE (6-1 MPSF/10-1 Overall) came back from a first set loss to beat Stanford in four (Feb. 6), the 12th-straight home victory for the Waves. Josh Taylor hit .538 with 16 kills, while Parker Kalmbach hit .424 with 17 kills. Taylor added 11 digs for a double-double. Pepperdine hit .434 as a team, guided by Matt West's 47 assists. Matt Tarantino leads the MPSF in service aces per set (0.65 A/S). The Waves are allowing opponents to hit just .171 on the year, easily the best across the MPSF (.202 is second- best). Pepperdine also hits .342 as a team, and records 2.89 blocks per set, both ranking second in the conference.
UC IRVINE (5-2 MPSF/10-3 Overall) hit .402 in the win at UC San Diego (Feb. 7). Kyle Russell hit .424 (20-6-33) and picked up seven digs. MPSF point leader Zack La Cavera (4.49 P/S) added 12 kills with a .455 clip, served three aces and collected seven digs. Tamir Hershko, second in the conference in point average (4.39 P/S) and third in kill average (3.75 K/S), added a .389 clip (9-2-18) at UCSD. The Anteaters lead the MPSF with a .349 team attack, guided by Michael Saeta's top assist average (11.37 A/S), and have served a high of 82 aces on the year.
LONG BEACH STATE (4-4 MPSF/7-4 Overall) came back from one set down to top UCLA at home, 3-1 (Feb. 4). John La Rusch tallied 12 kills and nine digs. Dan Glamack had 10 kills, and Cody Martin tacked on nine kills and nine digs. Martin went on for a career-high 20 kills vs. UCSB. Bryce Yould served two aces, and hit .538 with nine kills in the middle vs. the Bruins. He hit .667 vs. the Gauchos (11-1-15). Ryan Windisch leads the MPSF with 2.89 digs per set.
CSUN (3-4 MPSF/5-6 Overall) Sam Holt and Damani Lenore combined for 38 kills in a four-set win over UCSB (Feb. 4). Holt recorded a season-high 22 kills with an efficient .425 attack. Lenore added 16 kills (.281). Each player served two aces. The Matadors, who entered the AVCA Coaches' Poll this week at No. 14, held a .313-.157 hitting advantage that night.
UC SANTA BARBARA (3-5 MPSF/7-5 Overall) picked up its first MPSF road win, 3-1 at Long Beach State (Feb. 6). The Gauchos recorded 17 team blocks, led by Ryan Hardy's nine, while also hitting .444 (10-2-18). MPSF kill leader Kevin Donohue had a match-high 20 kills, bringing his average to 3.85 per set. Jake Staahl added seven stuffs. Setter Jonah Seif dished 43 assists and picked up a match-high 13 digs for the double-double.
UCLA (2-4 MPSF/6-4 Overall) earned its first MPSF road win at CSUN (Feb. 6), 3-1, as Jake Arnitz had 14 kills (.435) and Christian Hessenauer 13 (.333). Arnitz hit .382 (28-7-55) for the week and had six blocks at CSUN, in a night the Bruins had 17 as a team. UCLA is averaging an MPSF-best 1.83 aces per set.
CAL BAPTIST (1-8 MPSF/3-9 Overall) Enrique Garcia hit .429 (18-3-35) through the two-match series at BYU. Garcia is the MPSF block leader with 54 entering the week (1.35 B/S), while hitting .441 on the year.
STANFORD (2-5 MPSF/3-8 Overall) James Shaw shifted over to the outside at Pepperdine, recording a match-high 18 kills with a .394 hitting percentage. Conrad Kaminski, who had eight blocks at Concordia, has 50 on the year which is third most in the MPSF.
UC SAN DIEGO (0-7 MPSF/1-10 Overall) Tanner Syftestad recorded 13 kills, six digs, and four blocks (two solo) vs. UC Irvine.