Four-Way Tie With Six to Play
March 21, 2016 MPSF Volleyball Release 11
BYU (13-3 MPSF/17-3 Overall) split a two-match home series with Pepperdine (Mar. 18-19), winning the first night in straight sets. Jake Langlois recorded a career-high 24 kills with a .467 attack percentage in Saturday's four-set loss. He finished the series with 36 kills (5.14 k/s) at .389, along with eight blocks (1.14 b/s). The Cougars have six to play and are in a four-way tie for first-place. They travel to UC San Diego this week (Mar. 25-26), UCLA next week (Apr. 1-2), and host USC (Apr. 8-9) to close the regular season.
LONG BEACH STATE (13-3 MPSF/19-4 Overall) split a two-match series with CSUN (Mar. 18-19), taking the home match in straight sets. Kyle Ensing hit an errorless .444 (8-0-18) in the win, and finished the series with a .358 clip (22-3-53). He had a double-double of 14 kills and 13 digs (plus five blocks) in the loss. The 49ers are part of the four-way tie on top of the MPSF standings with six remaining. Left on the schedule are home matches this week vs. UCSB (Mar. 23) and UCLA (Mar. 26), visits to Pepperdine (Mar. 31) and Stanford (Apr. 2), and short trips to UC San Diego (Apr. 8) and UC Irvine (Apr. 9) to close out.
PEPPERDINE (10-7 MPSF/11-7 Overall) posted an impressive four-set win this past Saturday (Mar. 19) at No. 1 BYU, after dropping the first set, in earning a split in the series. The Waves ended the Cougars' 13-match win streak, a streak which also included losing just one set. Matt Tarantino recorded 20 kills (.302) in the win, and finished the trip with 37 kills (5.29 k/s) at .315. Pepperdine needs one win (or one UCI MPSF loss) to clinch an MPSF Tournament bid. The Waves have five to play, beginning at home Saturday (Mar 26) vs. USC.
CSUN (6-10 MPSF/13-10 Overall) picked up a huge win over No. 2 Long Beach State this past Saturday (Mar. 19) to earn a series split, as the Matadors continue to fight for their postseason hopes. After falling in three the night before in the Walter Pyramid, and down 2-1 in sets on night two, CSUN pulled out a 15-13 set five home outcome to snap an eight-match slide to the 49ers. CSUN also defeated its highest-ranked opponent in five years (No. 2 BYU on Mar. 18, 2011). Arvis Greene had a career-high 21 kills, along with two aces, six digs, and five blocks. Dimitar Kalchev added a 17-kill/13-dig double-double. CSUN's home finales are this week against UCLA (Mar. 24) and UCSB (Mar. 26).
USC (4-12 MPSF/6-14 Overall) swept Concordia and Holy Names last week. Lucas Yoder had 18 kills (.394) against the Eagles, while Matt Douglas picked up 10 digs. Alex Slaught had 13 kills (.476) vs. HNU, while Josh Kirchner was seven for an errorless eight (.875) with three aces.
CAL BAPTIST (4-13 MPSF/11-13 Overall) Roy Powell led the Lancers in road wins at Harvard and Sacred Heart last week. He totaled 25 kills with a .385 clip over seven sets. He had a 13-kill, 10-dig double-double against the Crimson.
UC IRVINE (5-11 MPSF/7-14 Overall) pushed Ball State to five sets after dropping the first two on Sunday (Mar. 20) in Muncie, IN. Jason Agopian hit .520 with a career-high 16 kills, along with four blocks. Michael Saeta had a double-double on 15 kills and 37 assists. Dillon Hoffman picked up a career-high tying 13 digs. The Anteaters fell 3-1 at Penn State Monday (Mar. 21), and continue their seven-match road swing at George Mason (Mar. 22) and Hawaii (Mar. 25-26) this week.
STANFORD (13-3 MPSF/15-3 Overall) was elevated back into first-place while on break. The Cardinal sit in a four-way tie on top of the MPSF with six to play, which includes home dates against USC (Mar. 24), Cal Baptist (Mar. 26), CSUN (Mar. 30), and Long Beach State (Apr. 2), and traveling to UCLA (Apr. 7) and UCSB (Apr. 9). Last in action, Conrad Kaminski hit .542 with a career-high 15 kills, recorded a match-high eight blocks, and served one ace in the home loss to Pepperdine (Mar. 12).
UCLA (13-3 MPSF/19-3 Overall) won two non-conference home matches in straight sets last time in action, defeating Ball State (Mar. 7) and Concordia (Mar. 11). In a four-way tie on top of the MPSF, the Bruins take a six-match/12-set win streak into CSUN, Mar. 24, before visiting Long Beach State (Mar. 26). BYU visits UCLA for two the following week (Apr. 1-2), before closing out at home against Stanford (Apr. 7) and Pepperdine (Apr. 9).
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).
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). 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.