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April 21, 2006 No. 3 UC IRVINE RALLIES TO DEFEAT No. 9 HAWAII; UCI ADVANCES TO FACE BYU (boxscore) IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine rallied from two games down to defeat No. 9 Hawaii 26-30, 27-30, 30-23, 30-22, 15-11 Saturday in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinal match Saturday at Crawford Court. The Anteaters improved to 25-5 on the season and advance to the conference semifinals, where they will meet BYU at approximate 8:30 p.m. (PT) Thursday (Apr. 26) at Firestone Fieldhouse. Top-ranked Pepperdine will face UC Santa Barbara in the early match at 5:30 p.m. Four Anteaters recorded double-digit kills in front of a sold-out crowd of 852, led by senior Jayson Jablonsky, who totaled 23 to lead the team. Matt Webber added 18 kills while David Smith had a season-high 16 kills in the match. Sophomore Taylor Wilson picked up a season-high 11 digs share the lead with libero Brent Asuka and also put away 12 kills while hitting .450 for the match. Senior setter Brian Thornton dealt 72 assists while junior Aaron Harrell led the team with seven block assists. Hawaii was paced by Lauri Hakala’s match-high 25 kills while Matt Vanzant added 17. Ric Cervantes had 12 digs for the team-high and Brian Beckwith totaled 57 assists in the effort as the Warriors fell to 13-14 on the season. The two teams battled in game one until Hawaii opened its second two-point lead at 18-16 on a kill by Hakala. The lead extended to three at 21-18 as Beckwith fired a service ace, prompting a UCI timeout. UCI cut the lead to one at 22-21 as Hakala hit long but the Warriors created some breathing room at 28-25 as Hakala connected with Dio Dante. A UCI service error by Jablonsky would put Hawaii ahead 29-26 and Matt Rawson and Matt Vanzant paired up to deny Webber at the net for the game one win. Hawaii took controlled most of game two and built a five-point lead at 22-17 on a UCI service error by Jon Steller. The Anteaters would come as close at two points (22-20) on a kill by Jablonsky but the Warriors rattled off the next four points to open a six-point margin. Eric Kalima sealed the game, connecting with Beckwith for the cross-court kill. UC Irvine battled in game three, taking a three-point edge at 12-9 on a service ace from Thornton. Hawaii reclaimed the lead at 15-16 on block assists from Rawson and Hakala on Jablonsky but the hold was brief as UCI broke open a 19-19 tie with five straight points to lead 24-19. Webber and Harrell pounded consecutive kills to win 30-23. Webber hit .667 in the game with six kills to lead UCI as Hawaii was held to a .296 hitting percentage. The Anteaters came out and took a 5-2 lead in game four, prompting a timeout by Hawaii. UCI would not give up the advantage and eventually built a six-point lead at 16-10, forcing UH to take its second timeout. Hawaii came out of the break with two straight points on a kill and service ace by Hakala but UC Irvine extended its lead to its largest of the match at nine points (24-15) as Taylor Wilson and Harrell denied Kalima at the net. Jablonsky evened the game, hitting high off the hands and following the kill with a service ace to give UCI the win. In the deciding game, UC Irvine road the coattails of Smith, who put away five of six kills with no errors (.855) to lead the team. The Anteaters jumped out to a 3-0 lead as Thorton, Jablonsky and Smith put up the triple block against Hakala and forced a UH timeout. Harrell connected with Thornton on the quick set to give UCI a 4-0 edge before Hawaii would get on the board at 4-1. The Warriors came as close as three points on consecutive UCI errors but the Anteaters held the lead and a UH attack error would give UCI match point at 14-10. Smith recorded the game-winner for the Anteaters. April 14, 2006 UC IRVINE TAKES UC SAN DIEGO, 3-0 IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE (Boxscore) La Jolla, Calif. – No. 3 UC Irvine defeated UC San Diego 3-0 (30-27, 30-25, 30-19) at the RIMAC Arena to close the regular season.
The Anteaters improve to 24-5 overall and 17-5 in the
MPSF, while UCSD ends the year 5-23 overall and 2-20
in league action. April
13, 2006 April 6, 2007 NO. 4 UCLA UPSETS NO. 2 UC IRVINE IN FIVE (Boxscore) Los Angeles, Calif. -- After trailing by two games, UCLA battled back to take the next three in an 3-2 (23-30, 24-30, 30-28, 30-28, 17-15) upset of No. 2 UC Irvine Friday at Pauley Pavilion. The Anteater block was big in game one, out-blocking the Bruins, 6-2 and taking the set 30-23. UCI hit .462, while UCLA hit just.179. UC Irvine took game two 30-24 with Matt Webber and Taylor Wilson each adding four kills. UCLA turned on the block in games three and four totaling 13 blocks to UCI's 3. The Bruins took game three 30-28 and game four 30-28. In game three, UCI rallied from a 25-27 deficit on a Jablonsky kill and ace to tie the score at 27-27. After each scoring a point, a kill by Paul George was followed by a Bruin block for the 30-28 UCLA win. UCI jumped to a 3-0 lead in game five behind the serving of Brian Thornton and two Taylor Wilson kills. UCI maintained the lead until another Bruin block tied the score at 10-10. After trading points, a kill on an overpass gave the Bruins the 12-11 advantage. A Smith kill knotted the game at 12-12. Two sideouts preceeded a Wilson kill to put UCI up 14-13. A Garrett Muagututia kill tied it at 14-14 before a Thornton set that was intended for Smith trickled over the net for the point 15-14. A Bruin kill and service ace gave UCLA match point before an Anteater attempt was blocked for the Bruin 17-15 victory. UCI falls to 22-5 on the year and 15-5 in the MPSF, while UCLA improves to 17-10 overall and 11-9 in league action. UCI's Jayson Jablsonky led all players with 19 kills. Taylor Wilson had 17 kills followed by Matt Webber with 14 and Aaron Harrell and David Smith with 12 kills each. Brian Thornton had a double-double with 64 assists and a career-high 12 digs. He also added five total blocks. Wilson, Webber and libero Brent Asuka each had nine digs on the night. Harrell led the team at the net with seven blocks. Steve Klosterman and Paul George each had 17 kills in the win. The Bruins had 26 blocks for the match. March 31, 2007 NO. 2 UC IRVINE FALLS TO NO. 1 PEPPERDINE (Box) Malibu, Calif. -- No. 1 Pepperdine needed five games to defeat No. 2 UC Irvine, 3-2 (28-30, 30-20, 30-25, 22-30, 15-13) at the Firestone Fieldhouse Saturday. It was a balanced UC Irvine attack as Matt Webber and Jayson Jablonsky each had 19 kills, while David Smith added 14 kills and Taylor Wilson had 11 kills. Aaron Harrell posted nine kills. Smith led the team with seven block assists. Libero Brent Asuka led all players with 10 digs. Setter Brian Thornton tallied 65 assists, the second most this season for the senior, and had a match-high two solo blocks to go with five digs. UCI lead 20-17 in game one before the Waves tied the score at 20-20 on a kill and two blocks. Following a UCI timeout, the Anteaters scored the next three on a Pepperdine service miscue followed by a kill by Harrell and a block by Harrell and Webber. A Carroll kill for Pepperdine ended the UCI scoring, 23-21. The Waves narrowed the score to 28-27 forcing another UCI timeout, but Webber responded with a kill to give the Anteaters game point. A Schleppenbach kill delayed the game until Harrell pounded a kill in the middle to give UCI the first set, 30-28. Game two was all Pepperdine taking the second set, 30-20. The teams were tied 5-5 before Pepperdine out-scored UCI 4-1 to take the 9-6 advantage and never looked back. The Waves hit a blistering .577 (17-2-26), while the Anteaters committed six service errors. All calls went Pepperdine's way as the Waves took the third game, 30-25. Pepperdine led 23-18 before UCI made a 4-1 run to close to 24-22. The Anteaters appeared to have another point but a blocking error was called to give the Waves the 25-22 cushion. Pepperdine, who would end the game out-scoring UCI 5-3, recorded seven blocks in the stanza. The Anteaters hit .481 in game four while the Waves hit just .120. UCI opened up a 11-7 lead and pushed the score to 20-12 before going to 30-22 victory. UCI was its own worst enemy to begin the final game as the Waves scored their first five points on two service errors and three blocks. The Anteaters rallied back to take the 8-7 lead, but Pepperdine knotted the score at 8-8. The teams traded points until 11-11 when Pepperdine took a 13-11 lead on a pair of kills. Jablonsky had a kill before a service error to make it 14-12. A David Smith kill was followed by another service error to end the match. UCI had six of its 25 service errors in game five, including the final three tosses. Pepperdine hit just .167 in the final game. The Anteaters snap a 10-match winning streak and go to 22-4 overall and 15-4 in the MPSF. Pepperdine wins its 18th consecutive and improves to 21-1 overall and 17-1 in league action.
March 29, 2007 JABLONSKY POUNDS 17 KILLS TO LEAD NO. 2 UC IRVINE TO SWEEP OF USC (Box) Irvine, Calif. -- Jayson Jablonsky recorded 17 kills to lead second-ranked UC Irvine to a 3-0 sweep of No. 12 USC (30-21, 32-30, 30-21) in the Galen Center Thursday. Jablonsky hit .538 (17-3-26) on the night and had two aces and five digs. Setter Brian Thornton had five total blocks, including two solos, while recording 36 assists. Matt Webber ended the night with nine kills and six total blocks, while middle blockers David Smith and Aaron Harrell each had five kills and six blocks. UCI took game one 30-21 with Matt Webber recording six kills on six attempts, hitting 1.000 to lead all players in the set. The Trojans hit -.087. The Trojans led 29-26 in game two, when Jayson Jablonsky recorded a kill then stepped back to the service line and fired an ace. An Anteater block by Harrell and Reinholm then knotted the score at 29-29. USC responded with a kill to put the Trojans up 30-29 before another Jablosnky kill was followed by a triple block by Smith, Reinholm and Webber on Juan Figueroa to give UCI the 32-30 victory. Jablonsky carried the offensive load with seven kills. UCI recorded eight blocks in the set. Figueroa led USC with 10 kills. The Antetaers out-blocked the Trojans 17.5 to 3.5. UCI will travel to No. 1 Pepperdine Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
March 14, 2007 WILSON
COMES UP BIG OFF THE BENCH TO HELP NO. 2 UC IRVINE TO
3-1 VICTORY OVER Irvine, Calif. – Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Wilson came off the bench to add 16 kills to help No. 2 UC Irvine defeat No. 6 Penn State, 3-1 (30-26, 27-30, 30-21, 30-25) at Crawford Court Wednesday. Wilson came off the bench in game two and added seven of his 16 kills then had six kills, while hitting .625 in the third set. He also added an ace and three blocks on the night. UCI’s Matt Webber led all players with 19 kills, hitting .500 (19-4-30). Webber also recorded two aces and a team-high seven digs. Freshman outside hitter Cole Reinholm tied his career-high with 14 kills and hit .667 (14-2-18). Middle blocker Aaron Harrell pitched in seven kills and five total blocks, while David Smith had eight kills and four total blocks. Senior setter Brian Thornton totaled 56 set assists, five digs and two blocks. Libero Brent Asuka recorded six digs. With the win, UCI extends its winning streak to nine and improves to 21-3 overall, the second most wins in program history following last season’s 27-5 mark. Penn State snaps an 11-match winning streak and goes to 12-3 on the year. Penn State had a trio of players with double-digit kills with Matt Anderson pacing the Nittany Lions with 17 kills, followed by Max Lipsitz (12) and Alex Gutor (10). Gutor also added seven total blocks and two aces. Middle blocker Max Holt had eight kills and a match-high nine block assists. Libero Ryan Sweitzer tallied a match-high eight digs. Penn State won the battle at the net, out-blocking UCI 17.0 to 10.0. UCI trailed 10-13 in game one before the Anteaters went on an 11-2 run to take the 21-15 lead which was capped by a Reinholm kill. The Anteaters would go on to the 30-26 victory. Penn State jumped out to an early 5-1 advantage and never relinquished the lead in game two. UCI closed within 28-26 on three consecutive points, but a Nittany Lion triple block gave Penn State match point 29-26. Game point was delay until Max Holt hammered a kill for the set 30-27. Game three was all UC Irvine as the Anteaters hit .727 (17-1-22). Reinholm was a perfect 4-4 hitting, while Webber connected on four of five attempts, hitting .800 and firing two service aces.
Game four remained close with the teams tied 20-20.
A kill by Wilson was followed by a solo block by Aaron
Harrell to give UCI the two-point cushion, 22-20. The
Anteaters led 27-24 when David Smith and Brian Thornton
each had solo blocks between a PSU kill to give UCI
match point 29-25. Reinholm fired a service ace for
the game and match winner. March 9, 2007 RECORD CROWD WATCHES NO. 2 UC IRVINE BLANK NO. 5 UCLA, 3-0 (Boxscore) Irvine, Calif. – A school record 3,612 fans watched second-ranked UC Irvine beat No. 5 UCLA, 3-0 (30-26, 30-28, 30-21) at the Bren Events Center Friday. UCI extends its winning streak to eight matches and improves to 20-3 overall and 14-3 in the MPSF. UCLA goes to 12-9 on the year and 9-8 in league play. Tonight’s attendance breaks the old school mark of 3,235 set in 2003 against Hawaii. Senior opposite Matt Webber led the Anteaters with 16 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Middle blocker David Smith continued his hot-hitting with eight kills and a .636 hitting percentage (8-1-11). Senior Jayson Jablonsky added seven kills, seven digs and five blocks, while junior Aaron Harrell had a match-high seven blocks to go with four kills. Senior setter Brian Thornton totaled 33 set assists and six digs. Libero Brent Asuka tallied nine digs in the win. The Anteaters won the battle at the net, with a 10.5 to 5.0 advantage. The Bruins were led by Steve Klosterman with a match-high 21 kills. Brett Perrine had seven kills and Jamie Diefenbach added six kills in the loss. Libero Tony Ker led all players with 12 digs. Setter Kevin Ker tallied 38 set assists and five digs on the night. UCI jumped out to a 9-4 lead in game one on a kill by David Smith then opened up a 24-18 advantage on a triple block by Jayson Jablonsky, Aaron Harrell and Matt Webber. The Anteaters would go on to the 30-26 victory in the first set. UCI led 27-21 in game two before UCLA scored the next five points to narrow the UCI lead to 27-26. Following a UCI timeout, Cole Reinholm stopped the streak with a kill (28-26). The teams traded points until UCLA had one of its 24 service errors to end the game 30-28 in favor of the Anteaters. UC Irvine never trailed in game three as the Bruins got as close as 13-11 before the Anteaters reeled off three consecutive to put them ahead 16-11. UCLA would get no closer than four the rest of the way with UC Irvine taking the game 30-21 and the match 3-0. March 3, 2007 NO. 2 UC IRVINE TAKES DOWN NO. 14 LONG BEACH STATE, 3-2 (Boxscore) Long Beach, Calif. -- Second-ranked UC Irvine recorded 5.5 blocks in game five to take down No.14 Long Beach State, 3-2 (23-30, 30-19, 30-25, 28-30, 15-12) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match Saturday at The Gold Mine. Long Beach State (7-9, 4-8) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fifth game on back-to-back service aces, but UC Irvine (19-3, 13-3) took a 4-2 advantage after a Forty-Niner attempt went long and the Anteaters recorded three consecutive blocks in which Aaron Harrell had a hand in each of them. The score was tied 8-8 when David Smith recorded a kill, a block with Brian Thornton and then another kill to put UCI up 11-8. Long Beach State would close to 12-11 before a LBSU attack error was followed by a Harrell kill to give the Anteaters match point, 14-11. A Long Beach kill was followed by another Harrell kill for the game 15-12 and the match 3-2. LBSU hit .069 in the final set. Matt Webber led all players with 20 kills and nine digs. He also added six total blocks and three service aces. Middle blocker David Smith recorded 11 kills and a match-high 13 total blocks, which included a season-high 11 block assists. Setter Brian Thornton had 53 assists, seven digs and a career-best eight block assists. Junior middle blocker Aaron Harrell added eight kills, two aces and six blocks. Libero Nick Spittle had nine digs in the victory. Jayson Jablonsky recorded 10 kills, Cole Reinholm nine and Taylor Wilson four for UCI. Long Beach State was paced by Paul Lotman with 16 kills, four aces, six digs and five blocks. Dean Bittner added 11 kills, while Dan Alexander had a team-high seven total blocks. UCI out-blocked Long Beach State with a season-high 21.5 to 14.5, but the Forty-Niners out-served the Anteaters 17-8. UC Irvine will host No. 5 UCLA Friday (Mar. 9) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center. February 28, 2007 No. 2 UC IRVINE SERVES IT UP; BEATS UC SAN DIEGO, 3-0 (Boxscore) Irvine, Calif. -- Five different UC Irvine players fired a service ace as the second-ranked Anteaters swept UC San Diego, 3-0 (30-16, 30-18, 30-25) at Crawford Court Wednesday. UCI (18-3, 12-3) totaled a season-high 11 aces, as junior Aaron Harrell and freshman Cole Reinholm led the Anteaters each recording a career-high four service aces in the victory. Jayson Jablonsky, Matt Webber and David Smith also served up an ace. Jablonsky led all players with 10 kills, while middle blocker David Smith hit .818, recording nine kills on 11 attempts in his third consecutive match without an error. Harrell added nine kills and hit .643 (9-0-14), while Webber and Reinholm pitched in seven kills apiece. Webber and libero Brent Asuka each added a team-high six digs. Senior setter Brian Thornton tallied 37 assists and five digs. The Anteaters out-blocked the Tritons 12.5 to 3.0 with Thornton, Harrell and Smith each recording five total blocks. UCI hit .436 (43-9-78) for the match, while UCSD hit just .027 (25-23-74). UC San Diego (5-11, 2-9) was led by Jason Spangler with six kills followed by Frank Fritsch, Stephen Shaw and Andy Northness with four kills each. Will Ehrman lead all players with eight digs. UCI held a 10-5 lead in game one before UCSD out-scored the Anteaters 5-2 to draw within 12-10. UCI would score the next five points to extend the advantage to 17-10 and would cruise to the 30-16 victory. The Tritons led 9-6 in game two, but the Anteaters used a kill and an ace by Harrell combined with a UCSD hitting error to knot the score at 9-9. UCI would go on a 12-3 run which included four UCI service aces to pull ahead 21-12 and never look back in the 30-18 win. Game three saw UCI leading 25-21 before the Tritons scored three unanswered to close to 25-24. Following an Anteater timeout, the teams traded points (26-25) then UCI received kills by Reinholm and Smith and another ace by Harrell to give them match point 29-25. A San Diego attack error ended the game, 30-25 and the match 3-0. February 24, 2007 BRENT ASUKA POSTS CAREER BEST 21 DIGS AS NO. 2 UC IRVINE TOPPLES NO. 10 CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE, 3-1 (Boxscore) Irvine, Calif. – Libero Brent Asuka recorded a career-high 21 digs as No. 2 UC Irvine toppled No. 10 Cal State Northridge, 3-1 (30-25, 30-24, 24-30, 30-18) Saturday at the Bren Events Center. Asuka’s career-best 21 digs is tied for second most in the UCI match record book, two shy of the school record of 23 set by James Felton in 1991.The sophomore's 21 digs is the most by a UCI player since rally scoring began in 2001. The 21 digs is also the third most in the country this season. UCI’s Jayson Jablonsky led all players with 18 kills, while adding two service aces and five digs. Opposite Matt Webber recorded 16 kills, an ace and six digs. Middle blocker David Smith tallied seven kills, hit .583 (7-0-12) and had a team-high five block assists. Setter Brian Thornton added 52 set assists, six digs and three blocks in the victory. Sophomore Taylor Wilson came off the bench, sparking UCI with eight kills, four digs, an ace and two total blocks in the final two games. Isaac Kneubuhl and James Lisher each totaled 11 kills to lead Cal State Northridge with Eric Vance following at 10 kills. Kneubuhl led the Matadors with nine digs, while middle blocker Kyle Waite had a match-high six total blocks. The Matadors out-blocked UCI 12.0-8.0. CSUN hit .169 for the match. UCI opened game one with an 8-1 advantage and continued to lead 17-9 before Northridge went on a 9-5 spurt to close within 22-18. The Matadors would get no closer than four the rest of the way as UCI would take the first set 30-25. The Anteaters never trailed in game two, scoring three straight points, including a pair of kills by Webber to pull ahead 11-7. After Cal State Northridge narrowed the Anteater lead to 13-9 on a Waite kill, UCI went on a 4-1 run to push the margin to 17-12. UCI would go on to win 30-24. Game three was all Cal State Northridge as the Anteaters hit .000 (9-9-34). The Matadors jumped out to a 23-10 advantage then watched UCI score the next six points to try and make it interesting (23-16), but the lead was too large as CSUN took the game 30-24. Vance had four kills for the Matadors, while Waite was a perfect three kills in three attempts in that game. UCI broke game four open on a 12-4 run to take a 21-12 lead on three kills by Taylor Wilson and five Matadors miscues. UCI ended the match with a 30-18 third game victory.
The Anteaters improve to 17-3 overall and 11-3 in the
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while Cal State
Northridge falls to 8-9 on the year and 6-6 in league
play. February 21, 2007 DAVID SMITH SETS MATCH HITTING RECORD AS NO. 2 UC IRVINE UPENDS NO. 3 UCSB, 3-1 (boxscore) Santa Barbara, Calif. -- Middle blocker David Smith hit .938, a new UCI match record, to help No. 2 UC Irvine upend No. 3 UC Santa Barbara, 3-1 (22-30, 30-27, 30-18, 30-25) at Robertson Gym Wednesday. Smith had 15 kills on 16 attempts with no errors for the .938 hitting percentage, which is a new UCI match record. That mark beats the old record of .923 set in 2002. Smith also had two aces and six blocks in the win. Senior Matt Webber led UCI with 16 kills followed by Smith and Jayson Jablonsky with 15 kills. Freshman Cole Reinholm tallied 11 kills and three blocks, while reigning AVCA National Player of the Week Aaron Harrell hit .538 with eight kills and four blocks. Senior setter Brian Thornton recorded 62 assists, five digs and three blocks. After losing game one, 30-22, UCI (16-3, 10-2) opened up a 13- 6 lead in game two, which included four kills by Jayson Jablonsky. UCSB (10-2) rallied out-scoring UCI 10-2 to take the 16-15 lead. The run included six kills by Evan Patak. The teams remained close until the Anteaters had a 25-22 cushion following a kill by Cole Reinholm. The Gauchos battled back again, narrowing the UCI lead to 26-25 on a pair of kills, but a David Smith kill and a block by Smith and Brian Thornton put the Anteaters back up by three 28-25. Following a UCSB kill, Patek sent a ball wide then burried a kill to give UCI match point 29-27. Matt Webber put away a kill to give the Anteaters the second set, 30-27. In game three, the Anteaters jumped out to a 4-1 advantage then extended the lead to 15-4 with eight straight points off David Smith serves. UCI would cruise to a 30-18 win as the Guachos hit -.042 in the game. The teams remained within two points of each other in game four before the Anteaters scored four unanswered to take the 22-17 lead. UCI used kills by Smith and Thornton and a block by the duo to push the advantage to 25-18. Webber would end the game and the match with a kill. UC Santa Barbara was led by Patak who led all players with 26 kills.
February 17, 2007 NO. 3 UC IRVINE SWEEPS NO. 11 PACIFIC, 3-0 (boxscore) Stockton, Calif. -- Third-ranked UC Irvine swept No.11 Pacific 3-0 (30-23, 30-20, 30-25) at the A.G. Spanos Center Saturday. The Anteaters win their third straight and improve to 15-3 overall and 9-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The UC Irvine block dominated with an 11.5-5 advantage. The Anteaters hit .430 for the match, while the Tigers hit just .127. Matt Webber led UCI with 13 kills followed by freshman Cole Reinholm with 11 kills, hitting .588 (11-1-17). Senior Jayson Jablonsky added 10 kills, while middle blocker Aaron Harrell recorded six kills, two aces and a match-high seven block assists. Senior setter Brian Thornton tallied 37 set assists in the win. Matt Cornell had 12 kills for the Tigers who go to 8-7 overall and 6-5 in MPSF play. UCI will travel to No. 3 UC Santa Barbara Wednesday (Feb. 21) at 7:00 p.m. in Rob Gym. February 15, 2007 DAVID
SMITH SETS BLOCK ASSIST RECORD AS NO. 3 UC IRVINE SWEEPS
STANFORD, 3-0 Stanford, Calif. -- Senior middle blocker David Smith recorded four block assists and became the career record holder as the third-ranked Anteaters swept Stanford 3-0 (30-27, 30-22, 30-20) at Maples Pavilion Friday. Smith, who has block assists 377 all-time, passes Kyle Weichert's mark of 374 set from 2001-04. Smith also added six kills and two service aces in the victory. Jayson Jablonsky led the UCI offense with 11kills followed by Matt Webber with 10 kills. The duo added five digs each. Middle blocker Aaron Harrell totaled nine kills and four total blocks while hitting .571 (9-1-14). Freshman Cole Reinholm tallied eight kills, hitting .538 (8-1-13) and recorded five digs. Libero Brent Asuka led all players with nine digs, while senior setter Brian Thornton had 32 set assists and five digs. UC Irvine improves to 14-3 overall and 8-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. After winning game one, 30-27, UCI used a 9-1 run to open the score to 23-15 in game two. Five points in that run came at the hands of Harrell who added two kills and assisted on three blocks. UCI jumped out to a 6-2 lead in game three and extended the advantage to 13-6 on back-to-back service aces by David Smith and a solo block and a kill on an overpass by Harrell. The Anteaters won the game 30-20 as the Cardinal hit just .033 in the set. Stanford, who drops to 1-14 overall and 1-9 in the MPSF, was led by Evan Romero and Matt Ceran with nine kills each. Garrett Werner had a match-high five blocks.
February 14, 2007 No. 3 UC IRVINE TOPS UC SANTA CRUZ, 3-0 (boxscore) Irvine, Calif. – No. 3 UC Irvine topped UC Santa Cruz, 3-0 (30-22, 30-23, 30-23) in a non-conference match Wednesday at Crawford Court. Senior opposite Matt Webber led the Anteaters with 13 kills and three service aces followed by outside hitter Jayson Jablonsky with 10 kills, hitting .588 (10-0-17) and firing two aces on the night. Middle blocker Aaron Harrell hit .714 on five kills, no errors and seven swings. Setter Ryan Ammerman totaled a career-high 30 assists, while middle blocker Mike Ortiz totaled five kills and hit .571 (5-1-7). The Anteaters fired a season-high 10 service aces in the match. UCI middle blocker David Smith recorded five block assists to go with four kills, giving him 373 block assists in his career, one shy of the UCI career record held by Kyle Weichert (374) from 2001-04. UC Santa Cruz was led by Austin Einhorn with a match-high 15 kills, hitting .737 (15-1-19) from the middle. Jesse Garber added nine kills and a match-high six block assists, while Bryan Shires had a team-high five digs. Setter Eric Rowell totaled 36 assists. The Anteaters never trailed in the match, starting game one with a 6-2 lead and game three with a 9-2 advantage. UCI led 9-7 in game two then used a 4-1 run which featured two kills by Webber to open a 13-8 cushion. The Anteaters did not commit a hitting error in game two ending with 19 kills on 27 attempts for .704 hitting percentage. The Anteaters
improve to 13-3 overall, while the Banana Slugs go to
9-4 on the year. February 10, 2007 NO. 13 PACIFIC UPSETS NO. 2 UC IRVINE, 3-2 (Boxscore) Irvine, Calif. -- No. 13 Pacific upset second-ranked UC Irvine, 3-2 (32-30, 30-28, 20-30, 30-18, 15-10) at Crawford Court Saturday. Pacific controlled game one and led 25-21 before UCI went on 8-4 spurt to tie the score at 29-29 on a Taylor Wilson kill. The teams each scored a point before Simon Chin-Byerley had a kill and assisted in a block with Maor Nutkevitch to give UOP the game 32-30. UOP jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in game two on strong serving by Nutkevitch, recording two aces in that span. The Tigers would continue to lead until another Wilson kill tied the score at 19 all. A kill by Jayson Jablonsky and a service ace by Jon Steller would give UCI a two point cushion. The lead was short lived as Pacific used an Anteater service error and a kill by Matt Cornell to knot the game at 25-25. The teams would trade points until UOP would take a 29-27 advantage on two UCI hitting miscues. A kill by Wilson delayed game point until Pekka Seppanen ended the set with a kill, 30-28. Pacific led game three, 14-12 before the Anteaters went on a 6-3 run to open a 20-15 advantage. The run included three kills by Aaron Harrell and three UCI blocks. The Anteaters would continue to roll through the game, 30-20. UCI began game four with a 5-1 lead, which included two blocks and a service ace by Matt Webber. UCI did not look back winning the game, 30-18 and forcing game five. UCI had seven blocks in game four. UOP started the fifth game, 6-2 with the help of two Seppanen kills. UCI would come as close as 11-9 before UOP ended the game out-scoring UCI 4-1 to win 15-10. UOP hit .615 (9-1-13) in the final game. Seppanen led Pacific with 14 kills followed by Cornell (13) and Nutkevitch (10). UOP won the match despite hitting .164 as a team. Jayson Jablonsky paced UCI with 17 kills, three solo blocks, five block assists and six digs. Middle blocker Aaron Harrell hit .526 with 11 kills in 19 swings and just one error. David Smith hit .538 on seven kills without an error in 13 attempts. Cole Reinholm had nine kills and six digs. Webber added a team-high 10 digs, while Brian Thornton tallied 51 set assists. The Anteaters had a season-high 18 blocks to UOP's 10 and out-dug the Tigers, 38-34. UCI goes to 12-3 overall and 7-3 in the MPSF, while Pacific improves to 7-6 on the year and 5-4 in league play. February 9, 2007 UC IRVINE SHUTS OUT STANFORD 3-0 (Boxscore) Irvine, Calif. -- Senior outside hitter Jayson Jablonsky had 13 kills to lead second-ranked UC Irvine over Stanford, 3-0 (30-28, 30-22, 30-22) at the Bren Events Center Friday. Jablonsky hit .417 (13-3-24), while adding six digs and three blocks. Freshman Cole Reinholm totaled 10 kills, while senior middle blocker David Smith hit .533 on nine kills, one error and 15 swings. Smith also had a match-high eight total blocks. Junior Aaron Harrell fired three service aces to go with eight kills and senior Matt Webber pounded seven kills on the night. Senior setter Brian Thornton recorded 37 assists, four digs and three blocks. Libero Brent Asuka tallied six digs in the win. Stanford was led by Matt Ceran with nine kill. Evan Romero and Brandon Williams each added seven kills. Freshman setter Kawika Shoji had a match-high 10 digs, an ace and 27 set assists. Stanford controlled game one jumping out to an early 6-2 lead on four consecutive UCI hitting errors that included two solo blocks by Shoji. The Cardinal continued to lead 27-24 when the Anteaters went on a 4-0 streak using two kills by Smith and one by Jablonsky to take the 28-27 advantage. Stanford would tie the game at 28-28 on a kill by Ceran, but UCI would end the game with a kill by Jablonsky and a Cardinal hitting error, 30-28. Game two was all UC Irvine as they opened the set 7-1 and never looked back going on to a 30-22 victory. Reinholm had five kills in the game for UCI. UCI led 8-7 in game three when the Anteaters would score the next five points behind the wicked serving of Aaron Harrell, who had two aces in that span. Stanford would get no closer than five the rest of the game as UCI went on to a 30-22 win. No. 2 UC Irvine improves to 12-2 overall and 7-2 in the MPSF, while Stanford goes to 1-12 on the year and 1-7 in league play. UCI returns to action tomorrow versus No. 13 Pacific at 7:00 p.m. in Crawford Court. February 3, 2007 NO. 2 UC IRVINE TAKES OUT NO. 1 BYU IN FIVE (Boxscore) Provo, Utah -- No. 2 UC Irvine heanded No. 1 BYU its first loss of the season with a 3-2 (24-30, 30-23, 33-31, 29-31, 15-8) victory in Smith Fieldhouse Saturday. The Anteaters improve to 11-2 overall and 6-2 in the MPSF, while BYU goes to 9-1 on the year and 5-1 in league play. The Cougars had only lost one game the entire season prior to the match. The win is the first in Provo for the Anteaters since Feb. 22, 1991. UCI's last six victories over the Cougars have come in five games. Senior Jayson Jablonsky led a balanced Anteater attack with 21 kills, 10 digs and two service aces. Matt Webber pounded 14 kills and had a season-high eight blocks, while middle blocker Aaron Harrell had a season-best 13 kills and five total blocks. Middle blocker David Smith hit .562 on 10 kills, one error in 16 attempts. He rejected a match-high 10 block assists, which is his season-high. Freshman Cole Reinholm pitched in eight kills. Senior setter Brian Thornton recorded 58 set assists, while guiding the Anteaters to a .312 hitting percentage. UC Irvine recorded a season-high 17.5 blocks to the Cougars' 14.0. BYU also committed 22 service errors for the match. Robby Stowell led BYU with 22 kills followed by Ivan Perez with 20 kills. Yosleyder Cala added 16 kills, while Rodnei Santos had 11 kills. Russell Holmes added nine kills and a team-high eight blocks. BYU jumped out to a 12-5 lead in game one and never looked back going on to the 30-24 victory. Game two was all UC Irvine as the Anteaters led 20-13 on their way to a 30-23 victory. UCI used a 8-3 run in game three to take a 18-14 lead. The Cougars responded with a 10-5 run of their own to go ahead 24-23. The teams would trade points until the score was tied 31-31 and a BYU service error was followed by a UCI triple block by Matt Webber, Cole Reinholm and David Smith on Robby Stowell to end the game 33-31 for the Anteaters. BYU never trailed in game four and led 28-25 before UCI rallied with a kill by David Smith and two by Jablonsky coupled with a BYU attack error and kill by Rodnei Santos to tie the score at 29-29. Santos put away another kill before he fired a service to end the set, 31-29 and force another game. In the deciding fifth game, UCI led 6-5 then opened up the game with four straight points on a 7-1 spurt which included two kills by Jablonsky to take a 13-6 advantage. Aaron Harrell ended the game and the match with a kill in the middle.
February 2, 2007 NO. 1 BYU SWEEPS NO. 2 UC IRVINE, 3-0 (Boxscore) Provo, Utah – No.1 BYU swept No. 2 UC Irvine 3-0 (30-21, 30-22, 30-27) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at Smith Fieldhouse Friday. The Cougars remain undefeated at 9-0 and 5-0 in the MPSF, while UCI goes to 10-2 overall and 5-2 in league action. The Anteaters hit a season low .142 and committed 20 service errors. UC Irvine was its own worst enemy in game one, committing eight service errors while hitting .000 and committing 13 errors as BYU cruised to a 30-21 win. UCI led by four (10-6) in game two when the Cougars went on a 5-1 run to tie the score at 11-11. BYU extended the lead to four (21-17) on back-to-back kills followed by two Anteater attacking errors. BYU would close out the game on a 9-5 run going on to a 30-22 victory. Game three started much like game two with UCI leading 9-5 before BYU rallied to knot the score at 10-10. The Cougars extended the margin to 16-14 on a service ace and BYU would continue to lead until two Jon Steller kills tied the set at 25-25 all. BYU would call timeout and then scored three straight to take the 28-25 advantage. UCI would close to 29-27 on a Matt Webber kill, before BYU blocked a ball for the game and match. UCI was led by their middle blockers David Smith and Aaron Harrell who each had eight kills and hit .429 (8-2-11). Smith also had a team-high four blocks. Matt Webber recorded seven kills and led the Anteaters with 10 digs. Jon Steller came in game three and added five kills. BYU had a balanced attack with Ivan Perez, Yosleyder Cala and Robby Stowell each putting away nine kills each. The two teams
will meet again tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. PST in Smith Fieldhouse. January 30, 2007 UC IRVINE SWEEPS PRINCETON; JABLONSKY BECOMES UCI CAREER ACE LEADER (Boxscore) Irvine, Calif. – No. 2 UC Irvine swept Princeton, 3-0 (30-26, 30-18, 30-18) in a non-conference match Tuesday at Crawford Court. The Anteaters improve to 10-1 overall, while Princeton goes to 0-2 on the season. Senior outside hitter Jayson Jablonsky recorded two service aces to become the UCI career leader with 98. He passes Jimmy Pelzel who held the old record with 96 from 2001-04. Matt Webber hit .892 with 16 kills on 19 attempts without an error. The .892 mark is the seventh best hitting percentage in the UCI match record books. Sophomore Taylor Wilson collected 11 kills and a match-high three service aces. Setter Ryan Ammerman had a career best 13 assists and a team-high three blocks. Mike Ortiz pitched in two kills while Brett Kohout added a kill in the victory. For the match, the Anteaters hit .473 to the Tigers’ .077. Princeton was led by Mike Vincent with seven kills, while Joseph Reid had a team high five digs. UCI played from behind most of game one and seemed to gain control late leading 24-22 on kills by Webber and Jablonsky. Princeton tied the score at 24-24 on a UCI service error and a Mike Vincent kill. The Tigers would then commit three hitting errors, one rejected at the net by Webber and Aaron Harrell to give the Anteaters the 27-24 cushion. UCI would go on to take the game, 30-26. Webber pounded seven kills in the first stanza. Game two and game three were all UCI as they cruised to 30-18 victories in the final two sets.
The Anteaters return to MPSF action Friday traveling
to No. 1 BYU for a 6:00 p.m. PST first serve. Janaury 27, 2007 PEPPERDINE KNOCKS OFF UC IRVINE, 3-0 (boxscore) Irvine, Calif. -- No. 5 Pepperdine knocked off No. 1 UC Irvine, 3-0 (30-26, 30-27, 30-23) in front of 1,439 fans at the Bren Center Saturday. UC Irvine suffers its first loss of the season, going to 9-1 overall and 5-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Waves improve to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in league play. Pepperdine was led by Paul Carroll's 15 kills, while John Parfitt added nine kills. Tom Hulse had eight kills and a match-high 14 block assists. Setter Jonathan Winder totaled 40 set assists, eight digs and seven blocks. Matt Webber paced UC Irvine with 16 kills followed by David Smith who had 10 kills and hit .643 (10-1-14). Libero Nick Spittle improved on his career-high for the third consecutive match with 10 digs. Aaron Harrell pitched in eight kills and a team-high four blocks. UCI senior Jayson Jablonsky had three service aces to tie the UCI career record with 93, matching Jimmy Pelzel's total from 2001-04. The teams were tied 21-21 when Pepperdine would close out the set outscoring UCI 9-5 to win game one, 30-26. Game two didn't see a lead larger than two and with the score tied 26-26, back to back kills by Hulse and Jon Grobe gave Pepperdine the 28-26 advantage. A Matt Webber kill for UCI was followed by a kill by J.D. Schleppenbach and a UCI hitting error to give the Waves the 30-27 win. Pepperdine was leading 16-14 in game three when the Waves locked down the net, blocking UCI for four of the next five points to break open a 21-14 advantage. The Anteaters could get no closer than three the rest of the way. The Waves would have eight blocks in the final game. Pepperdine would end the match out-blocking UCI, 16-6 and out-hitting the Anteaters .412 to .231, a season low for UCI. The Anteaters will host Princeton in a non-conference match Tuesday (Jan. 30 ) at 7:00 p.m. in Crawford Hall. January 24, 2007 WILSON; WEBBER LEAD NO. 1 UC IRVINE OVER USC, 3-1 (boxscore) Irvine, Calif. -- Taylor Wilson and Matt Webber each had 18 kills to lead No. 1 UC Irvine to a 3-1 (30-16, 28-30, 30-26, 30-20) victory over 14th-ranked USC Wednesday at the Bren Events Center. UCI improves to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while USC falls to 2-5 on the year and 1-3 in league play. UCI sophomore outside hitter Taylor Wilson tied his career-high with 18 kills while adding three aces and five digs. Webber, a senior opposite, collected 18 kills, nine digs and three blocks, including two solos. Reigning National Player of the Week, Jayson Jablonsky totaled 16 kills, tied his career-high with 11 digs, had two aces and three blocks. Middle blocker David Smith hit .471, adding 10 kills and had a match-high seven blocks. Libero Nick Spittle made his first start, recording a career-best eight digs. Senior setter Brian Thornton tallied 55 assists, six digs and three blocks. UCI out-hit the Trojans .346-.192 for the match. USC was led by C.J. Schellenberg with 17 kills, seven digs and four blocks. Juan Figueroa was the only other Trojan in double-figure kills with 10. Libero Luke Morris had a team-high 11 digs, while middle blocker Andrew Vernon had a team-high five blocks. Setter Jimmy Killian recorded 40 set assists. UCI jumped out to a 6-1 lead in game one and stretched the margin to 18-9 on their way to a 30-16 win. UCI hit .440 while USC hit -.036 in the first set. The Anteaters recorded six of their 11 match blocks in the first game. USC lead 14-11 in game two before a pair of Matt Webber kills were followed by a Brian Thornton kill and a Taylor Wilson service ace to give the Anteaters a 15-14 advantage. The score would be tied four times, including the last at 18-18 when two Trojan blocks gave USC a 20-18 lead. The Trojans would lead 29-26 when a USC hitting error plus a Wilson kill for UCI narrowed the score to 29-28. A C.J. Schellenberg kill would give USC the game, 30-28. In game three, UCI was ahead 11-7, but USC scored four straight to knot the game at 11-11. The Trojans would have a two point cushion on a Juan Figueroa kill and a UCI hitting error, 17-15. The Anteaters went on a 6-3 spurt to take a 21-20 lead on a David Smith kill in the middle. The teams would trade points until UCI used kills by Aaron Harrell and Wilson to go ahead 27-25. USC’s Hunter Current recorded a kill before the Trojans committed three attacking errors to end the game, including a block on Current by Wilson and Smith for a 30-26 UCI game four victory. Following a tie at 5-5 in game four, UCI would go on a 10-4 run capped by a Wilson ace for the 15-9 lead. USC could get no closer than five the rest of the way as UCI took the game 30-20 and the match 3-1. UC Irvine
will host No. 5 Pepperdine Saturday (Jan. 27) at 7:00
p.m. in the Bren Center. January 20, 2007 UC IRVINE DEFEATS UC SANTA BARBARA IN FIVE-GAME THRILLER (boxscore) IRVINE, Calif. --- Top-ranked UC Irvine rallied from a two-game deficit to defeat No.6 UC Santa Barbara, 25-30, 28-30, 30-22, 30-25, 15-10 Saturday in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at the Bren Events Center. The win lifted UCI to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play while the Gauchos fell to 5-2 overall (3-1). UCI setter Brian Thornton totaled a career-high 74 set assists while senior Jayson Jablonsky also had a career-high 28 kills and a season-best hitting clip of .523 (28-5-44) to lead four Anteaters in double-figure kills. Senior Matt Webber recorded a season-high 21 kills and four service aces while sophomore Taylor Wilson put away 18 kills, also a career-high for the outside hitter. Senior David Smith hit a team-high .667, committing just one error in 18 attempts with 13 kills. Defensively, Jablonsky and Webber each totaled 11 digs while freshman Nick Spittle had seven digs for a season-best effort. Junior Aaron Harrell led the team with four block assists. The Gauchos were led by senior Evan Patak, who had 36 kills and two service aces. Patak and Ben Brockman shared the lead in digs with nine. David Kennedy hit .517, for the team and recorded 17 kills while Theo Brunner added 10. Setter Bart Kowalski recorded 72 assists and Aaron Richman topped UCSB with five total blocks. UCSB took the early advantage at 12-9 and never relinquished the lead in game one. UC Irvine came as close as one point at 21-20 on a kill by Smith, but the Gauchos responded with three consecutive points to take a 24-20 lead, capped by a service ace by Patak. UCSB’s lead extended to five at 27-22 on a Patak kill and the Gauchos would go on to win on a service error by UCI. UCI took a 6-3 lead in game two but a three-point rally, again capped by a service ace by Patak would give the Gauchos a 7-6 lead. The Anteaters reclaimed the lead at 17-16 on a Wilson kill but a Kowalski kill and a block by Richman and Kennedy resulted in the 19-17 edge for UCSB. The Gauchos lead by as much as four and would go on to win the second frame. UC Irvine took control of game three midway through the set, opening a six-point lead at 15-9 as Harrell and Webber denied Richman at the net. At 25-19, Wilson and Jablonsky recorded back-to-back kills to extend the lead to eight points. UCI hit .514, committing just two errors in 35 attempts in the win. Game four was tight with neither team able to maintain more than a two-point lead. With UCI holding on to a slim 24-23 edge, Jablonsky and Harrell connected with sophomore Ryan Ammerman on consecutive plays, to build a 26-23 lead. Harrell and Webber teamed up again to block Kennedy (28-24) and Webber sent a ball cross-court to seal the win. In the deciding game, UCI shook off the Gauchos with a kill and service ace from Webber to take a 7-4 lead. Jablonsky’s kill at 10-7 was followed by service ace from Ammerman to increase the lead to four and UCI would go on to complete the come-back. The Anteaters were errorless in the frame, hitting .769 (10 for 13) while UCSB hit .500 (9-2-14). UC Irvine continues MPSF play next Wednesday (Jan. 24) against USC at the Bren Events Center. Janaury 17, 2006 HOT HITTING UC IRVINE TOPPLES CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE, 3-0 (Boxscore) Northridge, Calif. -- No. 1 ranked UC Irvine hit .505 as a team to top No. 10 Cal State Northridge, 3-0 (36-34, 30-21, 30-19) at The Matadome Wednesday. UCI hit .505 (57-9-95) as a team for the match while middle blocker Aaron Harrell posted a season-high .909 hitting percentage on 10 kills in 11 swings. The .909 mark is third best in the UCI match record book. The Anteaters fired nine service aces and out-blocked the Matadors 11.5 to 3.0. The Anteaters improve to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in MPSF while the Matadors go to 2-4 on the year, and 1-2 in league play. UCI has won 20 straight games. Jayson Jablonsky led UCI with 16 kills and seven digs followed by Matt Webber with 15 kills, three aces and six digs. Brent Asuka led all players with 10 digs. Middle blocker David Smith had eight total blocks to go with seven kills. Northridge led 22-19 in game one when UCI rallied for three straight capped by a David Smith kill to tie the game at 22-22. Another Smith kill gave the Anteaters a 25-23 advanatge, but UCI could not maintain the lead with the Matadors tying it up 27-27 on a Eric Vance kill. The teams would trade points until a Matador attacking error was followed by a Jayson Jablonsky kill to give UCI the set 36-34. Smith led UCI in game one with seven kills and a .667 hitting percentage. The Anteaters hit .400 (23-5-45) as a team. Game two was all UC Irvine as the Anteaters jumped out to a 16-11 lead and never trailed by less than four on their way to a 30-21 victory. UCI scored the final three points on a kill and service ace by Aaron Harrell and a kill by Taylor Wilson. UCI was hitting on all cylinders with a team attack percentage of .654 (19-2-26). The Anteaters jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in game three and sailed to a 30-19 victory and a 3-0 match win. January 13, 2007 UC IRVINE SWEEPS HAWAII FOR SECOND STRAIGHT NIGHT (Boxscore) Irvine, Calif. – No. 1 UC Irvine swept No. 4 Hawaii 3-0 (30-20, 30-22, 30-27) in front of 2,140 fans at the Bren Center Saturday. The Anteaters improve to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in MPSF play, not losing a game in the last five matches. Hawaii falls to 0-2 overall and 0-2 in league action. The score was knotted at 7-7 in game one when three Warrior errors gave the Anteaters a 10-7 edge. Hawaii could get no closer than two the rest of the game as UCI went on to win 30-20 in the first set. UCI hit .306 to UH’s .026. Jayson Jablonsky added five kills on seven attempts for a .714 hitting percentage in the first stanza. UCI would lead 15-11 in game two when Hawaii went on a 7-3 spurt to tie the score at 18-18. UCI would score the next three on kills by Aaron Harrell and Taylor Wilson and a service ace by Jayson Jablonsky to take a 21-18 advantage. The Anteaters would close out the game, out-scoring the Warriors 9-4 to win 30-22. Matt Webber would lead UCI with six kills in the game. Hawaii opened up game three on a 5-1 run, but UCI battled back to tie the game at 11-11 on a Webber kill. The teams would trade points until 22-22 when UCI would take a 25-22 advantage on three Hawaii attacking errors. Webber would end the game (30-27) and match with a kill. Webber led all players with 15 kills and 11 digs followed by Jablonsky with 12 kills and Taylor Wilson with a career-high 10 kills. Middle blocker David Smith added seven kills. Junior Aaron Harrell had a match-high eight block assists, while libero Brent Asuka tallied eight digs. Setter Brian Thornton totaled 37 set assists in the win. Hawaii was led by Jim Clar with 11 kills, seven digs and four blocks. Lauri Hakala and Matt Vanzant each pitched in 10 kills each. Brian Beckwith totaled 34 set assists and a team-high eight digs.
UCI would fire six service aces with three coming from
Jablonsky. UCI hit .315 to Hawaii’s .170. January 12, 2007 STELLER SPARKS TOP-RANKED UC IRVINE TO 3-0 VICTORY OVER HAWAII (Boxscore) Irvine, Calif. -- UC Irvine sophomore Jon Steller stepped into the second game and ignited the top-ranked Anteaters to a 3-0 victory over No. 4 Hawaii in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) match Friday in front of 2,370 fans at the Bren Center. UC Irvine improves to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in MPSF play, while Hawaii opens its season 0-1. Game one never saw a lead more than two and with the teams tied 28-28, UCI's David Smith pounded a kill in the middle for a 29-28 advantage. Aaron Harrell had a solo block on Hawaii's Matt Rawson for game point 30-28. Both teams struggled offensively with UCI hitting .135 and Hawaii hitting .135. Smith led the Anteaters with five kills in game one, hitting .833 (5-0-6). Hawaii jumped out to a 13-9 lead in game two before the Anteaters went on an 8-4 run capped by a Steller kill to knot the score at 17-17. It was Steller's first court appearance since April 9, 2005 after missing last season due to knee surgery. The teams traded points until 23-22 when UCI used two kills by Steller and two Warrior attack errors to take a 27-23 cushion. The teams had two kills apiece before a UCI service error delayed match point (29-26). Steller fittingly ended the game with a kill, 30-26. Steller hit 1.000 pounding five kills on five attempts in the second set. Game three was all UCI, jumping out to a 7-2 lead and never looking back on the way to a 30-21 victory. UCI's Jayson Jablonsky led all players with 12 kills and seven digs. David Smith added 11 kills on 13 swings without an error to hit .846. His .846 hitting percentage ties his own career best and ranks tied for fourth in the UCI match record books. Steller ended the night with seven kills and five total blocks. Taylor Wilson and Matt Webber each totaled five kills. Senior Brian Thornton recorded 47 set assists and six digs in the victory. Lauri Hakala paced Hawaii with nine kills, four digs and three blocks. Kyle Klinger hit .667 (5-1-6) and added three blocks. Setter Brian Beckwith tallied 26 assists, while Ric Cervantes had a team-high six digs. On the night, UCI out-hit Hawaii .273 to .112 and out-dug the Warriors, 35-18. The two teams meet again tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. in the Bren Center. Janaury 6, 2007 UCI WINS 43RD ANNUAL ELEPHANT BAR CHAMPIONSHIP; THORNTON NAMED MVP (Boxscore) Santa Barbara, Calif. -- The UC Irvine men's volleyball team captured the championship title of the UCSB/Elephant Bar Tournament with a 3-0 (30-22, 30-26, 30-23) victory over UCLA in Santa Barbara Saturday. The No. 1 ranked Anteaters improve to 4-0 on the season, while third-ranked UCLA goes to 2-1. This is UC Irvine's second Elephant Bar championship with the first coming in 2003. Senior setter Brian Thornton was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after recording 45 assists and leading the Anteater offense to a .372 hitting percentage. UCI hit .548 (19-2-31) in game three. Thornton also added two block assists as the Anteaters out-blocked UCLA 8-5. Seniors Matt Webber and Jayson Jablonsky were name to the All-Tournament team after recording 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Junior middle blocker Aaron Harrell hit .571, recording nine kills with one error in 14 swings. Freshman Cole Reinholm and senior David Smith each added eight kills while Smith hit .500 (8-1-14) and had five total blocks on the night. Sophomore libero Brent Asuka recorded a match-high 14 digs. UCLA was led by Steve Klosterman with 11 kills followed by Paul George with 10. The Bruins hit just .194 (38-19-98) for the match. UCI will entertain Hawaii Friday (Jan. 12) at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday (jAN. 13) at 7:30 p.m. in the Bren Events center. All-Tournament
Team January 5, 2007 UC IRVINE ADVANCES TO E-BAR CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH WITH 3-0 WIN OVER MATADORS (Boxscore) Santa Barbara, Calif. -- The No.1 ranked UC Irvine men’s volleyball team swept Cal State Northridge Friday to advance to the championship match of the UCSB/Elephant Bar Tournament in Santa Barbara. The Anteaters (3-0) defeated Cal State Northridge 30-19, 30-24, 30-22 Friday evening and will face third ranked UCLA Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in the championship match at Robertson Gym. Versus the Matadors, senior Matt Webber led UCI with a season-high 18 kills followed by senior Jayson Jablosnky with 16 kills and 11 digs. Middle blocker David Smith added eight kills and a team-high three blocks. Junior middle Aaron Harrell recorded seven kills on 13 attempts with no errors to hit .538. Libero Brent Asuka tallied his third consecutive double-digit dig performance with 11, while senior setter Brian Thornton had 49 set assists in the victory. Cal State Northridge was led by James Lischer with seven kills and two blocks. The Anteaters out-hit the Matadors .324 to .118. January 5, 2006 UC IRVINE SWEEPS STANFORD TO OPEN ELEPHANT BAR TOURNAMENT (Boxscore) Santa Barbara, Calif. -- The No.1 ranked UC Irvine men's volleyball team swept Stanford, 3-0 (30-23, 30-21, 30-23) in the first round of the UCSB/Elephant Bar Tournament Friday in Santa Barbara. The Anteaters were on fire offensively, hitting .531 (59-7-98) as a team for the match. All five attackers for the Anteaters hit .407 or above. Senior Matt Webber led the Anteaters with 15 kills, hitting .565 (15-2-23). Senior Jayson Jablonsky and freshman Cole Reinholm each added 14 kills, hitting .407 and .545 respectively. Middle blocker Aaron Harrell hit .750 (9-0-12) which ranks in the top 10 in match performances for UCI. Senior middle David Smith hit .600 on six kills in 10 aatempts without an error. Brian Thornton totaled 48 set assists and five digs while quarterbacking the Anteaters at setter. Libero Brent Asuka recorded a match-high 11 digs and Brett Simpson came off the bench to add a set assist on UCI's match point kill. The Anteaters, who improve to 2-0, will play the winner of the Long Beach State/Cal State Northridge battle currently in progress at 7:00 p.m. January 3, 2007 UC IRVINE OPENS SEASON WITH 3-1 VICTORY OVER CAL BAPTIST (Boxscore) Irvine, Calif. -- The UC Irvine men's volleyball team opened the 2007 season with a 3-1 (30-24, 30-23, 27-30, 30-25) victory over Cal Baptist in Riverside Wednesday. The Anteaters were led by senior All-American Jayson Jablonsky with 17 kills and 11 digs. Senior opposite Matt Webber recorded 15 kills and three aces, while freshman Cole Reinholm pounded 12 kills and hit .611 (12-1-18). Middle blockers David Smith and Aaron Harrell each added 10 kills as Smith hit .500 (10-1-18) and had a team-high eigth blocks. All-American libero Brent Asuka led all players with 16 digs, while setter Brian Thornton had 60 set assists and 12 digs. Cal Baptist's Shamsu Awadu led all players with 20 kills. Romain Vetter had 12 kills, hit (12-1-17) and tallied eight blocks. UCI will travel to the UCSB/Elephant Bar Tournament Friday as they take on Stanford in the first round at 1:00 p.m.
December 17, 2006 UCI TOPS OHIO STATE FOR SECOND STRAIGHT NIGHT (Boxscore) COLUMBUS, Ohio – UC Irvine topped Ohio State, 3-1 (30-22, 30-26, 26-30, 30-23) for the second straight night at the St. John Arena in an exhibition match. UC Irvine was led by Matt Webber who scored a team-high 18 points with Jayson Jablonsky adding 17.5. Webber had a team-high 17 kills and two blocks assists while Jablonsky contributed 14 kills, two aces and three block assists. Ohio State’s Sam Stevens scored a match-high 19.5 points for the Buckeyes with Robbie Klein adding 15. Stevens had a match-high 18 kills, one ace serve and an assist block while Klein posted 12 kills, two ace serves and a solo block. Tied at seven in game one, a kill from Stevens and a Brett Versen ace serve gave Ohio State a 9-7 lead. An OSU error and a Jablonsky kill tied the game at nine. Three Buckeye errors opened a 12-9 Anteater lead. Trailing 17-13, Ohio State, with kills from Klein and Matthew Hankey and a UC Irvine error cut the lead to one at 17-16. Anteater kills from Brandon Mel and David Smith and two OSU errors put UC Irvine ahead, 21-16. At 26-22, Anteaters, two kills from Webber and a Webber-Aaron Harrell block set game point at 29-22. An OSU error ended the game at 30-22. UC Irvine hit .345 for the game to -.067 for Ohio State. After Ohio State opened game two with a Klein kill, two kills from Harrell, a Harrell-Taylor Wilson block and an OSU error gave UC Irvine a 4-1 lead. The Anteaters held the lead and at 27-23, two UC Irvine errors and an ace serve from Stevens cut the lead to one at 27-26. Kills from Webber and Jablonsky set game point at 29-26 and a Jablonsky ended the game at 30-26. The Anteaters hit .400 for the game to .296 for the Buckeyes. Ohio State trailed 3-2 in game three when a Layne Dreven kill tied the game at three. A Buckeye block from Versen and Ben Spurlock, kills from Stevens and Versen and an Anteater error gave OSU a 7-3 lead. At 8-4, UC Irvine scored six straight points to take a 10-8 lead. The run began with kills from Webber and Smith, two OSU errors and blocks by Jablonsky-Smith and Smith-Brian Thornton. At 12-10, a kill from Stevens and an Anteater error tied the game at 12. A Jablonsky kill made it 13-12, UC Irvine. A Dreven kill, a Dreven-Versen block and a UC Irvine error gave OSU a 15-13 lead. At 16-14, OSU, two OSU errors, a Smith kill and a Cole Reinholm ace serve opened an 18-16 Anteater lead. At 19-17, two kills from Stevens and a UC Irvine error gave OSU a 20-19 lead. A Buckeye error tied the game at 20. A Versen kill and an Anteater error gave Ohio State a 22-20 lead. At 24-22, a UC Irvine error, a Klein ace serve and a Stevens-Dreven-Versen block gave Ohio State a 27-22 lead. Two OSU errors cut the Buckeye lead to 27-24. At 29-26, a Spurlock kill ended the game at 30-26. Ohio State hit .121 for the game to .100 for UC Irvine. UC Ir |