Three Tied On Top, Four to Play
March 28, 2016 MPSF Volleyball Release 12
STANFORD (15-3 MPSF/17-3 Overall) won two at home last week, 3-1 over USC and 3-0 over Cal Baptist. Conrad Kaminski hit an errorless .611 vs. USC (11-0-18), with a 2016 MPSF season-high tying 10 block assists for his first double-double of the year. Entering the week, the Cardinal sits in a three-way tie at the top of the standings with four to play, and has clinched home court for the MPSF Quarterfinals (Apr. 16). Stanford also controls its own path for the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. Left on the schedule are home dates against CSUN (Mar. 30) and Long Beach State (Apr. 2), along with visits to UCLA (Apr. 7) and UCSB (Apr. 9).
UCLA (15-3 MPSF/21-3 Overall) won its final two regular season road matches this past week, 3-2 at CSUN and 3-0 at Long Beach State to stay in a first-place tie. JT Hatch totaled 30 kills with a .339 clip for the week. UCLA hosts BYU for two battles at the top this week (Apr. 1-2), before closing out at home against Stanford (Apr. 7) and Pepperdine (Apr. 9). The Bruins need one win or one Pepperdine loss to secure a quarterfinal home court. UCLA is also one of two teams who controls its own path to the MPSF Tournament's No. 1 seed.
BYU (15-3 MPSF/19-3 Overall) won a pair of 3-0 road matches at UC San Diego (Mar. 25-26) to remain tied on top of the standings entering the week. Brenden Sander matched a career-high 16 kills in the first win, and hit .333 for the series (28-10-54). The Cougars have two on the road at UCLA this week (Apr. 1-2), before their last two at home vs. USC (Apr. 8-9). BYU will then stay in Provo for the MPSF Quarterfinals.
HAWAII (9-9 MPSF/14-9 Overall) sealed an MPSF Playoff berth with two home wins over UC Irvine (Mar. 25-26). The Warriors won in five sets both nights, capping the weekend by fighting off a two-set hole in the second match. Stijn van Tilburg tied a conference season-high 27 kills with a solid .479 clip in the second win. Siki Zarkovic recorded back-to-back 25-kill matches, hitting .429 in the series. Hawaii plays twice at UCSB this week (Apr. 1-2), before closing at home with Cal Baptist (Apr. 8-9). The Warriors will then be seeded between fifth and eighth for the MPSF Tournament, traveling for the quarterfinals.
PEPPERDINE (11-7 MPSF/12-7 Overall) clinched an MPSF Tournament bid when Hawaii beat UCI on March 25, before picking up a straight-set home win the next day vs. USC. Matt Tarantino had 15 kills (5.00 k/s), hitting .462, and served three aces. The Waves host Long Beach St (Mar. 31) and CSUN (Apr. 2), before visiting UCSB (Apr. 7) and UCLA (Apr. 9).
LONG BEACH STATE (14-4 MPSF/20-5 Overall) split its final two regular season home matches, earning a straight-set win over UCSB (Mar. 23). TJ DeFalco hit .415 (20-3-41) with four aces for the week. The Beach also set an attendance record of 2,682 in the Walter Pyramid against UCLA (Mar. 26), breaking the old record of 2,232 which stood for 16 years. The 49ers can guarantee staying home for the quarterfinals as early as Thursday (Mar. 31) with a win at Pepperdine. Road matches follow at Stanford (Apr. 2), UCSD (Apr. 8), and UCI (Apr. 9).
UC SANTA BARBARA (10-8 MPSF/15-9 Overall) won 3-0 at CSUN (Mar. 26) to lock up an MPSF Tournament berth. The Gauchos are at home for their final four, as Hawaii visits for two (Apr. 1-2), along with Pepperdine (Apr. 6) and Stanford (Apr. 9).
CSUN (6-12 MPSF/13-12 Overall) is on the road for its last four in the regular season, fighting for the last MPSF playoff spot available. CSUN has a one-match lead over UCI, and two-match lead over USC and Cal Baptist. The Matadors visit Stanford (Mar. 30), Pepperdine (Apr. 2), UC Irvine (Apr. 7), and UC San Diego (Apr. 9). CSUN currently holds a two-way tiebreaker over UCI (1-0 matches), USC (2-0 matches), and CBU (5-3 sets). Jakub Ciesla had 13 kills last week vs. UCLA.
UC IRVINE (5-13 MPSF/8-17 Overall) concludes a seven-match road swing this week at Cal Baptist (Mar. 30) and USC (Apr. 3). One match back from the final MPSF playoff spot, UCI also has two remaining at home against CSUN (Apr. 7) and Long Beach State (Apr. 9). Michael Saeta tied his career-high of 24 kills and David Parker had personal-bests of 14 kills and 18 digs in the win at George Mason (Mar. 22). Dante Chakravorti had a conference season-high 68 assists, while Dillon Hoffman tied the high of 19 digs, on night two at Hawaii.
USC (4-14 MPSF/6-16 Overall) has four to play, as it wraps its home schedule against UC San Diego (Apr. 2) and UC Irvine (Apr. 3) this week, before traveling to BYU (Apr. 8-9). The Trojans are two matches behind CSUN, and one behind UCI, for the final MPSF postseason bid. Lucas Yoder hit .500 (19-4-30) at Pepperdine on Mar. 26 and .389 (18-4-36) at Stanford on Mar. 24, finishing with a .439 clip for the week (37-8-66). Alex Slaught hit .500 at Stanford (14-3-22).
CAL BAPTIST (4-14 MPSF/12-14 Overall) concluded its non-conference schedule 8-0 this year with a three-set win at Holy Names (Mar. 26). The Lancers served a 2016 MPSF single-match high 15 aces, five coming from Jackson Burge. Emmett Enriques totaled 25 digs in six sets last week (4.17 d/s). Two back of the final MPSF postseason bid available, Cal Baptist hosts UC Irvine and UC San Diego this week, before heading to Hawaii for two.
UC SAN DIEGO (0-18 MPSF/5-19 Overall) finishes its season by visiting USC and Cal Baptist this week, and hosting Long Beach State and CSUN next week. Ian Colbert had 12 kills at .379 in the second match vs. BYU (Mar. 26), following an 11-kill (.250) first match. Kirill Rudenko had a match-high 11 digs on night one.