Waves Storm Back For Big Road Win
March 14, 2016 MPSF Volleyball Release 10
PEPPERDINE (9-6 MPSF/10-6 Overall) fought back from two sets down to pull off a monster win at first-place and third-ranked Stanford this past Saturday (Mar. 12). The Waves also erased a match point at 14-13 down in winning the final three points to seal the comeback victory. Matt Tarantino turned in an incredible week, which included a four-set home win over Cal Baptist (Mar. 10). He hit .463 (39-8-63) in nine sets for the week, served five aces, had six blocks, and picked up 13 digs. Tarantino capped the week with a career-high 21 kills with a blistering .459 attack rate in a tough Maples Pavilion setting. The Waves sit in sole possession of fifth-place with seven to play, beginning with two at BYU this weekend (Mar. 18-19).
HAWAII (7-9 MPSF/12-9 Overall) Siki Zarkovic hit a series-best .467 with a high of 32 kills (4.57 k/s) as the Warriors won a key two-match road series at CSUN, 3-1 and 3-0 (Mar. 11-12). Hawaii hit a solid.410, served 10 aces, and stuffed 18 balls (2.64 b/s) through the seven sets. The wins put UH into seventh, and can perhaps breathe in the playoff picture slightly easier with six to play, beginning with UC Irvine at home (Mar. 25-26).
UCLA (13-3 MPSF/19-3 Overall) won two non-conference home matches in straight sets last week, defeating Ball State and Concordia (CA). Percentage points out of first-place in the MPSF with six to play, the Bruins will take a six-match/12-set win streak into CSUN, Mar. 24. Oliver Martin was nine for an errorless 11 (.818) against Ball State, and wrapped up the week hitting .650 (14-1-20)..
LONG BEACH STATE (12-2 MPSF/18-3 Overall) split two home matches as it hosted the annual Active Ankle Tournament this past weekend. The 49ers earned a four-set win over Lewis. Kyle Ensing totaled 30 kills (.329), 15 digs, and four aces and blocks through nine sets, and was named to the all-tournament team. The 49ers sit in a first-place tie with eight to play in the conference, beginning this weekend on back-to-back nights with CSUN (Mar. 18-19).
UC IRVINE (5-11 MPSF/7-13 Overall) withstood a two-set Lewis rally in Long Beach State's Active Ankle Tournament, holding off the Flyers in five sets. Michael Saeta delivered a career-night in kills (24) and aces (5), and was an all-tournament selection. The Anteaters will be logging some serious mileage in the coming days. The seven-match swing goes through Muncie, IN (Ball State); University Park, PA (Penn State); and Fairfax, VA (George Mason) over three consecutive days (Mar. 20-22). From there, UCI jets 10 hours west to Honolulu, HI (Hawaii), Mar. 25-26, before the road finish in Riverside (Cal Baptist) and Los Angeles (USC), Mar. 30 & Apr. 3.
CAL BAPTIST (4-13 MPSF/10-13 Overall) Roy Powell had a match-high 22 kills at .386 at Pepperdine (Mar. 10). The Lancers hit .330 as a team. Cal Baptist travels to Harvard and Sacred Heart this week. The Lancers erased a one-set deficit to beat the Crimson in four Monday (Mar. 14).
UC SANTA BARBARA (9-7 MPSF/14-8 Overall) Matt Marsh hit .625 (18-3-24) and Jacob Delson .571 (14-2-21) in a four-set win over Concordia at home (Mar. 9). The Gauchos dominated the team hitting, .407-.180, and hit.542 after set one. UCSB plays its final two regular season road matches March 23 & 26 at Long Beach State and CSUN.
UC SAN DIEGO (0-16 MPSF/5-17 Overall) won a straight set non-conference road match at Concordia (Mar. 10). Tanner Syftestad had 14 kills (.281) with two aces and five blocks. Kirill Rudenko added 11 kills and served four aces, while Bryan Zhu had seven blocks.
CSUN (5-9 MPSF/12-9 Overall) holds the eighth and final MPSF playoff spot with eight matches remaining, beginning with two back-to-back with Long Beach State this week (Mar. 18-19). Jakub Ciesla accumulated 30 kills (4.29 k/s) in the Hawaii series this past weekend, while hitting a solid .339. CJ Suarez picked up a series-high 22 digs (3.14 d/s).
STANFORD (13-3 MPSF/15-3 Overall) Conrad Kaminski hit .542 with a career-high 15 kills, recorded a match-high eight blocks, and served one ace in the narrow home loss to Pepperdine (Mar. 12). The Cardinal is within percentage points of the top with six to play, as it resumes its five-match homestand against USC on Mar. 24.
BYU (12-2 MPSF/16-2 Overall) won a two-match series at Hawaii, 3-0 and 3-1 (Mar. 2-4), and sits in tie for first-place with eight to play, as Pepperdine visits this week (Mar. 18-19). The Cougars have a national-best 12 match win streak, and took 35 consecutive sets in that run. Ben Patch accumulated a series-high 39 kills (5.57 k/s) while hitting .456 at UH. He had a 2016 three-set match MPSF-high 22 kills (.700) in the first win. Price Jarman totaled 15 blocks (2.14 b/s) in the seven sets. BYU hit .362 for the series, and racked up 28 blocks (4.00 b/s).
USC (4-12 MPSF/4-14 Overall) hosts Concordia and Holy Names this week. Lucas Yoder had 18 kills while hitting .441 in a straight-set win at Cal Baptist (Mar. 3). In the second match vs. the Lancers (Mar. 5), Woody Cook tallied 14 kills at .370 in his second career start. Jon Rivera had 11 kills at .421 off the bench.