Ryan Ammerman and Kevin Wynne
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UC Irvine Hosts Long Beach State Thursday; Travels to UC San Diego Saturday
Black & Blue Rivalry points on the line Thursday
March 25, 2008
UC IRVINE HOSTS LONG BEACH; TRAVELS TO UC SAN DIEGO: No. 9 UC Irvine (11-12, 7-9) will take on No. 3 Long Beach State Thursday (Mar. 27) at 7:00 p.m. in then Bren Events Center before traveling to UC San Diego Saturday (Mar. 29) at 7:00 p.m. in the RIMAC Arena.
VS THE OPPONENTS: Long Beach State holds a 28-8 advantage in the series records. The Anteaters are 0-2 against Long Beach this year, losing 3-0 at the UCSB/Elephant Bar Tournament and again 3-0 in Long Beach. The Forty-Niners lead the MPSF with a 14-2 record and are coming off a sweep of BYU last week. Long Beach is 19-3 overall.
UCI leads UC San Diego 27-5 in the series records, but the Tritons took the first contest of the year, 3-1 in Irvine. UCSD is 7-15 overall and 3-13 in the MPSF.
BLACK & BLUE RIVALRY: Thursday match with Long Beach State is another installment of the Black & Blue Rivalry Series presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach. Currently the Anteaters hold a 19-14 lead over the Forty-Niners.
LOOKING AHEAD: UCI will host Cal State Northridge next Tuesday (Apr. 1) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Center. This is the final home match for the Anteaters and a senior ceremony for Aaron Harrell, Brett Kohout and Mike Ortiz will be held before the match.
IN THE RANKINGS: UC Irvine stayed at No. 9 in the AVCA Coaches poll. The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 10 for 47 consecutive weeks.
STELLER IS A STUD: Opposite Jon Steller has averaged 5.57 kills per game over the last two matches. His 29 kills in the first match against Hawaii is the seventh most by an Anteater in the rally scoring era. Over the last six matches, the junior has averaged 5.20 kills, 0.45 aces and 1.60 digs.
HARRELL SETS ACE RECORD: Aaron Harrell fired seven aces in the first match with Hawaii setting the UCI match record. The previous record of six was held by Jon Steller (2008), Matt Webber (2004), Jarrett Jensen (2002) and Mike Rupp (1999).
WYNNE IN THE MIDDLE: Freshman middle blocker Kevin Wynne hit .581 (20-2-31) over the two Hawaii matches. He also 2.86 kills, 1.14 blocks and 1.0 digs. The freshman is ranked seventh in the country in blocks (1.39) and 13th in hitting percentage (.415).
POPPING THEM UP: UCI leads the MPSF in digs versus conference opponents with a 11.72 mark. Overall the Anteaters average 10.85 digs per game and rank second. Libero Brent Asuka leads the MPSF with a 3.28 dig average.
ANTEATERS EIGHTH IN THE NATION IN HTTING: UC Irvine is ranked eighth in the country in hitting percentage with a .285 mark.
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