Beach into First; UCSD Snaps Long Drought
Feb. 6, 2017 MPSF Volleyball Release 5
LONG BEACH STATE (5-1 MPSF/9-2 Overall) swept two straight home matches over Pepperdine (Feb. 2) and Stanford (Feb. 4), and enters the week on top of the standings by percentage points. The 49ers visit UC Irvine (Feb. 10) and UC San Diego (Feb. 11) this week. Kyle Ensing totaled 27 kills on .412 hitting, and picked up 11 digs over the two wins last week. Amir Lugo-Rodriguez has tallied an MPSF-high 49 blocks and NCAA-high1.29 blocks per set. Andrew Sato digs up a conference-best 2.74 balls per set (NCAA No. 4), while Josh Tuaniga dishes an MPSF-high 11.47 assists per set (NCAA No. 2).
UC SAN DIEGO (1-4 MPSF/4-5 Overall) Tanner Syftestad knocked down 26 kills in leading the Tritons to a four-set win at USC (Feb. 4), snapping a 49-match MPSF losing streak dating back to April 11, 2014. Each set finished 25-23, with UCSD also having to come back from a set one loss. The Tritons also defeated Princeton last Wednesday (Feb. 1), as Syftestad had 21 kills on .486 hitting. Winners of four straight matches, the Tritons hosts Hawaii (Feb. 8), CSUN (Feb. 10), and Long Beach State (Feb. 11) in a busy week.
BYU (4-1 MPSF/9-2 Overall) won a two-match home series over then first-place and No. 2 UCLA (Feb. 3-4). In the five-set win the first night, a match which the Cougars fought off two separate match points, Ben Patch recorded more than twice the amount of kills than anyone else in the gym. He finished with 28 kills on .422 hitting, along with 11 digs. He followed up with 13 kills at .458 in a 3-0 win the next night. Patch ranks second in the nation in kills per set (4.83 K/S). BYU travels to USC Friday (Feb. 10).
HAWAII (3-2 MPSF/10-2 Overall) is off to its best 12-match start since 2005 at 10-2, also extending its home win streak to 13 straight after a two-match series win over UCSB, 3-0 and 3-1 (Feb. 3-4). Stijn van Tilburg totaled 39 kills (5.57 K/S) while hitting .347, along with five blocks in the series. Hawaii hits the road for four straight, traveling to UC San Diego (Feb. 10), Cal Baptist (Feb. 11), McKendree (Feb. 14), and Lindenwood (Feb. 15). The Warriors have accumulated MPSF-highs of 108 total blocks and 2.57 blocks per set this year (NCAA No. 3).
CSUN (2-3 MPSF/9-3 Overall) Arvis Greene slammed a career-high 26 kills with a blistering .615 hitting clip in a straight-set home win over No. 7 Stanford last Friday (Feb. 3). Josiah Byers added eight kills on .727 hitting, while CJ Suarez picked up 14 digs. The Matadors hit .417 as a team, guided by Sam Porter's 44 assists, while limiting the Cardinal to a .115 rate. CSUN, who leads the NCAA in team hitting (.394), travels to UC San Diego Wednesday (Feb. 8) to open a four-match road swing. Dimitar Kalchev serves a national-best 0.83 aces per set.
USC (2-6 MPSF/3-8 Overall) pulled out a wild four-set win at No. 6 UC Irvine last Friday (Feb. 3). Along with the first set against UCSD, the Trojans won each of their sets last week 25-23, while all eight of their sets played last week were decided by two points. The 42-40 set two final at UCI were the most points scored by USC in a set, and most surrendered, in program history. Lucas Yoder tallied 29 kills (.360) with eight digs, while Gianluca Grasso added 24 kills (.354) in that match. Yoder followed with 20 kills vs. UCSD, and leads the NCAA with 5.00 kills per set and MPSF on 5.30 points per set (NCAA No. 2).
UC IRVINE (5-3 MPSF/8-4 Overall) won a four-set road match at Cal Baptist (Feb. 1). UCI's 42-40 outcome in set two against USC was the longest frame in the MPSF since the 2008 conference semifinals (Pepperdine 43, LBSU 41 in set 3).The Anteaters host Long Beach State Friday (Feb. 10) and CSUN Saturday (Feb. 11). With another eight aces last week, Michael Saeta has served the most in the MPSF this year (36), while the Anteaters have a team-high 74. Matthew Younggren ranks second in the conference in hitting (.491), and Dillon Hoffman is at the top with 119 digs.
CAL BAPTIST (1-6 MPSF/3-8 Overall) bounced back from the loss to UC Irvine to win in three over future MPSF opponent Grand Canyon last Friday. Enrique Garcia was 10 for an errorless 12 (.833), nearly cementing a place in the MPSF record books after going nine for his first nine. Libero Emmett Enriques picked up 11 digs in each contest. The Lancers host Hawaii Saturday.
UCLA (6-2 MPSF/9-3 Overall) fell short in five sets and three sets in a two-match series at BYU (Feb. 3-4). Micah Ma'a served an MPSF season-high six aces in the first match, while Dylan Missry collected career-highs of 13 kills and 10 digs. Hagen Smith had a double-double each night, including a career-high 12 kills (.348) the first night. Daenan Gyimah leads the MPSF and is third nationally with a .493 season hitting clip. UCLA is also at the top of the conference in aces per set (1.67) and opponent hitting (.223). The Bruins stay on the road this week, visiting Stanford and Pepperdine.
STANFORD (3-2 MPSF/6-4 Overall) dropped a pair of straight-set road matches at CSUN and Long Beach State last week. Gabriel Vega had 13 kills with an efficient .476 attack percentage in Long Beach. The Cardinal host UCLA Thursday (Feb. 9) at 6 pm on Pac-12 Networks, as well as UCSB Saturday (Feb.11).
PEPPERDINE (2-2 MPSF/4-3 Overall) David Wieczorek had 13 kills while hitting .312 in the loss at Long Beach State last Thursday. The Waves host UCSB Wednesday (Feb. 8) and UCLA Saturday (Feb. 11).
UC SANTA BARBARA (3-5 MPSF/6-5 Overall) Jacob Delson recorded 23 kills at .375, while Corey Chavers added 18 kills in the second match at Hawaii (Feb. 4). The Gauchos stay on the road this week, visiting Pepperdine Wednesday and Stanford Saturday. Delson is third in the conference and fourth in the nation with 4.38 kills per set.