MPSF Volleyball Update, Jan. 14
Jan. 14, 2017 MPSF Volleyball Update-Jan. 14
*Csun 3, USC 0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-18)
Recap by USC Sports Information
LOS ANGELES-Jakub Ciesla had 15 kills while hitting .625 to lead the No. 13-ranked Cal State Northridge men's volleyball team to a 25-20, 25-21, 25-18 sweep over unranked USC in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Saturday (Jan. 14) in USC's Galen Center.
CSUN improved to 6-1 overall and 1-1 in the MPSF, while USC fell to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the MPSF.
Lucas Yoder led USC with a match-high 19 kills while hitting .552 and Matt Douglas had 6 digs.
Ciesla had no hitting errors among his 24 attempts and he had 4 blocks. Teammate Arvis Greene added 12 kills (hitting .450), Dimitar Kalchev had 10 kills while hitting .692 and had 4 aces and CJ Suarez had 7 digs.
CSUN hit .557 to USC's .468 and the Matadors served 4 aces and had 6.0 blocks.
In the first set, CSUN scored 5 of 6 points to open a 17-12 edge and USC couldn't catch up as the Matadors hit .560. CSUN went on a late 4-0 run in the second set to build a 21-19 lead that it didn't relinquish as it hit .522. The Matadors used another 4-0 run in the final set to go up 15-11 and they were never threatened while hitting .591.
USC now embarks on a 5-match MPSF road match, beginning with a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday (Jan. 18) at UC Santa Barbara.
*UCLA 3, UC San Diego 0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-17)
Recap by UCLA Sports Information
The No. 2-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team captured a straight set win over UC San Diego in an MPSF match played on Saturday night in Pauley Pavilion. Scores of the contest were 25-15, 25-13, 25-17.
UCLA hit .557 for the match and registered nine aces on the night, a school record-tying seven coming in the second set. Mitch Stahl and Micah Ma'a led the way from the service line with four and three aces, respectively, on the night. Jake Arnitz and JT Hatch tied for match-high kill honors with nine each. UCLA is now 4-1, 2-0 on the season and will host Cal Baptist next Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA quickly moved to a 5-1 lead in set one behind three kills from Arnitz. The Bruins led 16-9 after a Daenan Gyimah kill and block. Arnitz scored with his left hand for a 24-15 edge and Ma'a ended the set with a kill for a 25-15 win. The Bruins hit .789 in the set with no errors on 19 swings and recorded 15 kills. Set two was tied at points 4, 5 and 6 after Stahl had opened the set with a pair of service aces. UCLA grabbed a 11-7 lead on a Hagen Smith kill, Ma'a served up back-to-back aces and then later added a third for a 15-7 advantage. Christian Hessenauer came off the bench to tally five kills in the set and one of his smashes lifted the Bruins to a 22-12 lead. An Arnitz ace gave the Bruins seven in the set, which tied the school mark established in 1993 against Stanford. UCLA closed out the set at 25-13. In set three, UCLA moved out to a 6-3 lead after a Ma'a swing. A Stahl kill made it 10-7. Hatch's kill moved the margin to 19-12. Michael Fisher's blast made it 23-15 and UCLA closed out the set, at 25-17, on a kill by Arnitz. Arnitz (.571) also tallied an ace and three blocks. Hatch (.692) led the Bruins with seven digs. Hessenauer (.556) finished with six kills. Ma'a added 21 set assists and Jackson Bantle made five digs. Smith had a block solo, and ace and five kills to go with his 14 set assists. The Bruins finished with a 9-3 service ace edge and a 6.0 to 3.0 total team block margin.
BYU 3, McKendree 0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-17)
Recap by BYU Sports Information
PROVO, Utah -- Tim Dobbert's 14 kills led No. 4 BYU men's volleyball past McKendree for its third three-set win (25-23, 25-22, 25-17) in as many days Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse. "I was excited to get lots of guys opportunities to play," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "I like how the guys responded and played. We need to shore things up a little bit, improve in our passing and the typical little things. Overall though, I was pleased with our effort tonight." Dobbert set a new season-high in kills and came just one kill shy of his career high as the Cougars (4-1) hit a .333 clip compared to the Bearcats' .200 clip. Price Jarman led BYU with four blocks and tacked on seven kills as Leo Durkin tallied 32 assists and two blocks on the night. The first set was tight throughout, as BYU's 23-20 advantage was the only 3-point lead for either team. A key sequence of a kill and a dig by Dobbert on back-to-back points erased a 20-19 McKendree lead. With the Cougars up 24-23, It was Dobbert who closed out the set with another kill. BYU gained a big lead early in the second set, with a 10-5 edge before a Bearcat timeout. McKendree gradually clawed back to cut the lead to 15-14. The Cougars scored five of the next seven points to lead 20-16, but the Bearcats again responded to narrow the gap to 22-21. From there, BYU had a 3-0 run on a McKendree service error, a kill by Joseph Grosh and a block by Jarman and Kiril Meretev. After one more Bearcat point, Dobbert capped another set with a kill for a 25-22 Cougar win. With the third set tied 10-10, a kill by Grosh sparked three-straight points for BYU. After a Dobbert kill put the Cougars up 14-11, BYU maintained a lead of at least three points the rest of the way. The Cougars scored seven of the last nine points to win the set 25-17, as Zach Eschenberg's kill closed out the match. BYU next plays on Thursday at Cal State Northridge at 6 p.m. PST. That match will be streamed at GoMatadors.com and a link to live stats can be found on the BYU men's volleyball schedule page.
Ohio State 3, STANFORD 0 (25-23, 29-27, 26-24)
Recap by Stanford Sports Information
STANFORD, Calif. ââ'¬" In the second match in as many days between No. 10 Stanford and No. 1 Ohio State, the Buckeyes held off the Cardinal, 25-23, 29-27, 26-24, Saturday in Burnham Pavilion. The set scores were as close as you can get despite Ohio State (5-0) out hitting Stanford (3-2) .379 to .221. The Buckeyes committed 24 service errors to just nine by the Cardinal, allowing Stanford to stay within striking distance. Ohio State held an 8.0 to 5.0 advantage in blocks and posted 12 service errors while Stanford finished with seven. Senior opposite Miles Johnson paced the Buckeyes for the second straight night with 15 kills on .407 hitting. Junior Nicolas Szerszen added 12 kills on a .435 attack percentage. Ohio State jumped out to early leads in all three sets, but the Cardinal found ways to crawl back in it. Down 19-15 in the first, Stanford's Kyle Dagostino registered two aces and kills by Kevin Rakestraw and Matt Klassen helped tie it up 20-20. Stanford took a 23-22 lead in the opening set, forcing an Ohio State timeout. Back-to-back kills by Johnson and another by Szerszen out of the break sealed the set victory for the Buckeyes. The Cardinal trailed by as many as seven in the second, but a kill by freshman Stephen Moye and then attack errors by Johnson and Szerszen gave Stanford a 22-21 lead. The teams would continue to trade points until kills by Szerszen and setter Christy Blough gave the Buckeyes the second-set win. It was more of the same in the third set. Ohio State took an early lead and Stanford had to play catch up. A service ace by freshman setter Paul Bischoff tied it at 23-23. However, an attack error by sophomore Jordan Ewert and another kill by Szerszen gave the Buckeyes match point, where Szerszen put down an ace. Ewert led Stanford with 11 kills, eight digs and an ace. Rakestraw, a junior middle blocker, hit .750 with seven kills on eight swings with just one error. He also recorded a team-high three blocks. Bischoff guided the offense with 26 assists to go with three digs, two blocks and a kill. Junior libero Evan Enriques collected seven digs. Moye was a perfect 4-0-4 (1.000) for the Cardinal, while outside hitter Gabriel Vega chipped in with five kills, two aces and a solo block. Klassen finished with three kills, four digs and an ace. Stanford hits the road next week, traveling to Malibu, California to open MPSF play at No. 5 Pepperdine. First serve against the Waves is slated for 7 p.m. PT.
LEWIS 3, Pepperdine 1 (25-23, 25-22, 24-26, 25-21)
Recap by Pepperdine Sports Information
ROMEOVILLE, Ill.: ââ'¬" The 5th-ranked Pepperdine men's volleyball team suffered the first loss of the 2017 campaign this Saturday night at Neil Carey Arena, as the Waves dropped a four-setter to 9th-ranked Lewis with 25-23, 25-22, 24-26 and 25-21 set results.
Redshirt-sophomore and Chicago native David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola HS) commanded the Waves' offensive with a career-high 26 kills, and with only five errors on 46 swings, amassed a .457 hitting percentage as well. He also tied the team-high with two aces in the match, alongside senior Max States (Honolulu, Hawai'i/Solimar Academy).
The Waves produced a .294 offensive output collectively with 58 kills, compared to the Flyers .333 hitting percentage on 57 kills. The home team, however, out-blocked the visiting Waves 13.5 to 4.0 on the night, while collecting nine service aces to Pepperdine's six. The Waves did pick up 41 digs, as opposed to the Flyers 38 during the four-set match-up.
Fellow Illinois-native and local for the night, sophomore, Michael Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS) was good for 11 kills on 28 swings. He added an ace and nine digs as well.
Senior Soren Dion-Kindem (Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura HS) led the team in playmaking duties after coming into the match in the third set. He posted 41 assists on 80 touches for a .512 hitting percentage and tabbed five digs and a kill for the team. Senior Joshua Stewart (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine College Prep/Pacific) had the start on the day and finished with 12 assists and one block.
Junior Alex Harthaller (Innsbruck, Austria/Akademischeg Gymnasium/IPFW) was next for Pepperdine with eight kills and eight digs. Senior Mitchell Penning (St. Louis, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) and junior Clay Carr (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) each had six smashes. Penning on a .364 output, and Carr on a .556 success rate. Carr tied the team-high with two blocks alongside Wieczorek.
Junior libero Owen Yoshimoto (Ventura, Calif./Adolfo Camarillo HS/Santa Barbara CC) tied the team-high nine digs from the back row and led the squad with 33 total receptions.
To start the match, both teams collected points en route to a 6-6 tie, but the home team would then pull ahead slightly to gain the early advantage. Lewis went ahead 14-10 on a strong attack output and maintained the lead until the 24-19 mark. Pepperdine went on a 4-0 run to bring the score within one, 24-23, but the Flyers then sealed the deal with a Waves' service fumble to go up 1-0 in the match.
In the second set, the teams once again edged forward together, until the 8-8 mark when the home team picked up a three-point lead 13-10. The Flyers continued to keep the lead through a 21-17 score, but Pepperdine battled back for the second time in the match within one after three consecutive plays and strong services from States including his first ace of the night. Lewis picked up the momentum after that, though, and shut the Waves down for a 25-22 set two win to go up 2-0.
The third set started similarly to the first two as the team reached the 8-8 and 12-12 marks. Lewis pulled ahead by two, but Pepperdine came back with a kill from Harthaller to tie the set at 19's. Each side went head-to-head at the point, exchanging kills and the Waves would collected the first advantage 24-23. The Flyers tied it up, but a quick kill from Wieczorek and an ace by freshman Noah Dyer (San Clemente, Calif./Saddleback Valley Christian HS) finished off the set 26-24 in Pepperdine's favor.
With the game on the line and the score 2-1 in the home team's favor, the momentum was in Lewis' court. After a 10-10 tie in the middle of the set, the Flyers went on a 7-1 run to pull ahead 17-11 and it was a deficit the Waves would be unable to come back from. Lewis ended the night with a 25-21 set win for the 3-1 victory.
Pepperdine will be back in Firestone Fieldhouse on Friday, Jan. 20 as the Waves open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play against #10 Stanford at 7 p.m. Follow Pepperdine @PeppVolleyball on Twitter and Facebook for immediate updates and head to PepperdineWaves.com for recaps, results and more.