No. 2 Long Beach State Visits No. 1 UCLA Wednesday
Jan. 25, 2016 MPSF Volleyball Release 3
UCLA (4-0 MPSF/7-0 Overall) is 7-0 for the first time since 2005, after winning two conference matches this past week. The Bruins won 3-0 at Cal Baptist and 3-1 in their home opener over USC. UCLA, No. 1 in the MPSF in aces per set (2.31), served 2016 MPSF-highs of 11 in each match. Jake Arnitz recorded 14 kills (.480) vs. USC, while Micah Ma'a accumulated 10 kills, nine digs, and six blocks. Oliver Martin had seven blocks vs. USC, and hit .667 (13-1-18) for the week. Princeton and Long Beach State visit Westwood this week, where two wins would result in UCLA's first 9-0 start in the rally scoring era.
LONG BEACH STATE (3-1 MPSF/6-1 Overall) Taylor Gregory remains at the top of the conference in hitting, going for another strong weekend at .667 (17-1-24), as the 49ers split at home this past weekend with BYU. TJ DeFalco totaled 30 kills in the series (4.29 K/S), and racked up his first career double-double on 14 kills and 10 digs in the first night's 3-1 defeat. Bryce Yould is No. 2 to Gregory in the MPSF in hitting (.620), while DeFalco is also second in kills (4.46 K/S). The 49ers are out-hitting their opponents, .345 (MPSF 3rd)-.180 (MPSF 2nd) on the year.
PEPPERDINE (3-1 MPSF/4-1 Overall) used a tough block and serve for a 3-1 home win over No. 4 UC Irvine (Jan. 22). The Waves recorded 16 team blocks, led by an MPSF season-high 10 by Tommy Carmody, and served 10 aces-five by David Wieczorek. Colby Harriman tallied 16 kills (.323) and eight blocks. Wieczorek had match-highs of 10 kills (.421) and three aces in the straight-set home win over UC San Diego (Jan. 20). Carmody is the MPSF leader in block average (1.88 B/S).
CSUN (2-0 MPSF/7-0 Overall) is off to its first 7-0 start in school history, following a Jan. 20 home sweep over Cal Lutheran. Arvis Greene collected a match-high 12 kills (.304) along with three aces, while Justin Toth hit .545 (7-1-11). The Matadors held CLU to negative hitting (-.044). CSUN, leading the MPSF in hitting (.364) and opponent hitting (.178), heads to UCSB and UCLA this week for its MPSF road openers.
UC SANTA BARBARA (3-1 MPSF/7-2 Overall) won 3-1 at USC and 3-2 at Cal Baptist last week. Matt Marsh hit .400 with a match-high 19 kills against the Trojans, while Ryan Hardy was 10 for an errorless 16 (.625). The Gauchos had four players in double-digit kills against the Lancers, led by 17 apiece by Marsh (.323) and Jacob Delson (.419). Henri Cherry was 10 for an errorless 12 (.833). UCSB hit .423 in that win, and .533 (9-1-15) in the fifth set. Jonah Seif tied an MPSF season-high 54 assists in each win, going for a double-double at USC with 10 digs.
STANFORD (3-1 MPSF/5-1 Overall) won 3-0 over UC San Diego and 3-1 over No. 4 UC Irvine last week. Madison Hayden hit .452 with a match-high 17 kills against the Anteaters, as Stanford hit .339 as a team. Conrad Kaminski hit an errorless .533 in the middle (8-0-15). James Shaw served five aces vs. UCSD, and guided a .373 team attack. Gabriel Vega hit .450 (12-3-20).
HAWAII (1-1 MPSF/6-1 Overall) won a two-match home series over Grand Canyon, 3-0 and 3-1. Siki Zarkovic became the 16th member of Hawaii's 1,000-kill club in the second night's four-set win. Stijn van Tilburg led that match with 18 kills (.343), while also recording seven digs and seven blocks. He finished with 32 kills for the series. The Warriors hit .376 with a season-high 11 blocks on night two. UH is second in the conference in team hitting (.360), with van Tilburg leading in kill average (4.61 K/S).
BYU (2-2 MPSF/4-2 Overall) split at Long Beach State, winning the first match in four sets. Price Jarman totaled a series-high 11 blocks (1.57 B/S), while hitting .474 (10-1-19). BYU is No. 2 in the MPSF in block average (3.00 B/S). The Cougars remain in Southern California this week, visiting UC Irvine for a two-match series.
UC SAN DIEGO (0-2 MPSF/2-5 Overall) snapped a five-match losing streak with a straight-set win at Holy Names (Jan. 23). Ian Colbert tallied a 13-kill, 10-dig double-double in the win, while hitting .571. Alec Flowers was 11 for an errorless 20 (.550).
USC (0-4 MPSF/0-6 Overall) Alex Slaught had 16 kills vs. UCSB (.355) and 13 at UCLA. Lucas Yoder had 16 kills at UCSB (.294). The UCLA match marked Jeff Nygaard's first visit to Pauley Pavilion as head coach, where he was twice the MPSF and National Player of the Year (1994-95) as a Bruin.
UC IRVINE (1-3 MPSF/2-4 Overall) Jason Agopian hit .533 (10-2-15) at Stanford. Tamir Hershko had 18 kills in both matches at Pepperdine and Stanford, also totaling 17 digs.
CAL BAPTIST (0-4 MPSF/3-4 Overall) Cody Jackson recorded match-highs of 20 kills (.286) and five aces against UCSB. Rohit Paul had 10 kills at .421 vs. UCLA.