USC Defeats Top-10; Visits CSUN, LBSU
Feb. 20, 2017 MPSF Volleyball Release 7
USC (4-7 MPSF/5-9 Overall) pulled off two conference home wins vs. the top-10 last week, 3-0 over No. 6 Stanford (Feb. 16) and 3-2 over No. 9 Pepperdine (Feb. 18). The results marked back-to-back wins for USC for the first time in 2017. Andy Benesh hit .538 with an errorless seven kills and three blocks vs. Stanford, before a 12-kill (.435) and seven-block night vs. Pepperdine. Lucas Lossone had 16 kills (.323) and Matt Douglas 18 digs vs. the Waves. Lucas Yoder is the NCAA kill leader (4.92 K/S) and points leader (5.27 P/S). Within percentage points of CSUN for the MPSF's top-eight, the Trojans visit the Matadors Wednesday (Feb. 22) as well as Long Beach State Friday (Feb. 24). USC handed LBSU its only conference loss to date (Jan. 11).
CSUN (3-5 MPSF/10-5 Overall) won its lone match last week in five sets at No. 5 UCLA (Feb. 15), its first win in Pauley Pavilion since 2009. Arvis Greene had yet another huge night, collecting a match-high 25 kills (more than half of the CSUN total) with an efficient .449 attack clip, along with a career-high seven digs, three blocks, and an ace at UCLA. Eric Chance led a big CSUN blocking effort, recording a career-high nine, four in a solo act. The Matadors' originally scheduled Feb. 17 match at UCSB was postponed until March 8.CSUN hosts USC Wednesday and Cal Baptist Friday, the latter of which will begin the second half of the squad's conference schedule. Dimitar Kalchev is tied for an NCAA second-most 38 aces on the year.
LONG BEACH STATE (9-1 MPSF/13-2 Overall) swept MPSF road matches at UCSB (Feb. 15) and UCLA (Feb. 18) last week, staying on top of the standings by 1.5 matches in the win column. NCAA assist leader Josh Tuaniga dished 81 over the six sets played last week (13.50 A/S), setting his team to over .400 each match. In conference play, the 49ers have won nine straight matches and 24 straight sets, as Cal Baptist (Feb. 22) and USC (Feb. 24) visit the Walter Pyramid this week. Amir Lugo-Rodriguez is No. 2 nationally in blocking average (1.30 B/S), as are the 49ers in team hitting (.375).
BYU (6-1 MPSF/12-2 Overall) won back-to-back 3-0 home matches over UC San Diego last weekend (Feb. 17-18), though only the first result counts in the MPSF standings. Jake Langlois put away a season-high tying 17 kills with (.353) in the conference match, before recording 13 kills (.333) in the non-conference contest. The Cougars travel to Stanford for two conference matches this week (Feb. 23-24).
STANFORD (6-3 MPSF/9-5 Overall) came back from a 2-1 set deficit to rally for a five-set result at Cal Baptist (Feb. 18). Gabriel Vega hit .481 (15-2-27), while Jordan Ewert had a team-high 16 kills and served three aces. Ewert leads Stanford with 3.79 kills per set. Kevin Rakestraw hits .436 on the year (MPSF sixth). The Cardinal hosts BYU for two this week (Feb. 23-24), with Thursday's match televised by Pac-12 Networks at 7 pm.
HAWAII (5-2 MPSF/14-2 Overall) is off to its best 16-match start since 1996, and second-best all-time at 14-2, extending its win streak to an MPSF season-high nine straight matches (and 14 straight sets) after 3-0 results at McKendree (Feb. 14) and Lindenwood (Feb. 15). Rado Parapunov had a match-high 16 kills at Lindenwood, hitting .355, while Brett Rosenmeier tallied a career-high 15 kills. Stijn van Tilburg recorded a .667 clip (17-1-24) at McKendree. The Warriors, who remain the nation's top blocking team (2.68 B/S), host Pepperdine for two this week (Feb. 24 & 26).
PEPPERDINE (4-4 MPSF/6-5 Overall) recorded a 2017 conference-high 23.5 blocks at USC (Feb. 18), led by Clay Carr's conference season-high 11, as well as David Wieczorek's 10 (along with 18 kills). Coincidentally, the Waves had the same amount of 23.5 team blocks at USC last year, the last time the MPSF has seen as many. The Waves also broke their own individual and team single-match MPSF season-high in blocks, which was done just last week vs. UCLA. Mitchell Penning is in the MPSF's top-five in hitting (.437, fifth) and blocking (1.16, second). Pepperdine travels to Hawaii for two this weekend (Feb. 24 & 26).
UCLA (7-5 MPSF/10-6 Overall) fell 3-2 to CSUN (Feb. 15) and 3-0 to Long Beach State (Feb. 18) at home last week. The Bruins visit UC Irvine Friday (Feb. 24) and UC San Diego Saturday (Feb. 25). Daenan Gyimah ranks third nationally in hitting (.479).
UC SAN DIEGO (2-7 MPSF/5-9 Overall) Tanner Syftestad tallied 13 kills each night at BYU, hitting .333 and serving two aces in the first match at BYU (Feb. 17). He is fifth in the nation in kills per set (4.23). The Tritons host UCSB (Feb. 24) and UCLA (Feb. 25) this week.
UC SANTA BARBARA (3-8 MPSF/6-8 Overall) dropped a straight-set home match to Long Beach State (Feb. 15), before its scheduled match vs. CSUN was postponed to March 8. The Gauchos travel to UC San Diego (Feb. 24) and UC Irvine (Feb. 25) this week. Jacob Delson is third in the MPSF and fourth in the NCAA with 4.25 kills per set.
CAL BAPTIST (1-9 MPSF/3-11 Overall) dropped two at home last week to Pepperdine in four (Feb. 16) and Stanford in five (Feb. 18). Kevin Vaz recorded a match and career-high 25 kills (.283), while Luis Palos added 11, and Rohit Paul nine kills along with 10 digs and three aces against the Cardinal. Vaz also had 20 kills in the Pepperdine match, finishing with 45 for the week (.321). The Lancers visit Long Beach State (Feb. 22) and CSUN (Feb. 24) this week.
UC IRVINE (6-4 MPSF/9-5 Overall) was off last week, and hosts UCLA Friday (Feb. 24) and UCSB Saturday (Feb. 25). Michael Saeta is tied for the second most aces in the nation with 38. Dillon Hoffman picks up 2.54 digs per set (MPSF No. 2), Scott Stadick 1.11 blocks per set (MPSF No. 3), and Matthew Younggren hits .461 (MPSF No. 4).