UCI sweeps Hawaii - (Friday game)

[Rocky]

STELLER SPARKS TOP -RANKED UC IRVINE TO 3-0 VICTORY OVER HAWAII

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 ina 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 overall and 0-1 in league play.

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 Jablonky 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.

[shankapotamus]

Steller and Smith were on fire tonight and almost flawless. It was good to see Stellar back on the court being that he has been a big question mark for the last few weeks. Someone on VT had posed the question as to how Irvine's line up would look with Steller & Webber on the floor together and I thought we were going to see it tonight. Unfortunately, Webber was substituted for Steller @ OPP, and Taylor Wilson for Cole Reinholm @ OH. I thought the 'Eaters had their starting lineup set, however seeing all these new/returning guys play made me realize that practices are even more competive that I thought!

Irvine played satisfactory volleyball as a whole. One could see on the Irvine players faces that they expected their quality of play to be at a higher level than tonight. Maybe both teams had "first game jitters" because there were moments when it seamed as teams were trading service errores. There were simple transition plays that ended up as points to the other side-- free balls and overpasses were passed over and/or too tight to the setters to get to the ball.

Hakala was visibly ill tonight and it was apparent that he was coughing up a lung at times, but I'll still have to say he is an amazing player, sick or not.

I'm curious as to what lineups the crowd is going to see tomorrow night for both teams!

[volleylife]

Same thing as last year, hawaii will win in 3 tonight

[sexy]

grgas clar vidinha carney and his derrick low hairdo and hakala are hotties -- klinger too in a naughty way - you know what i am saying??

[shankapotamus]

From The Daily Pilot

For the original story visit - www.dailypilot.com/articles/2007/01/13/sports/dpt-ucimvb13.txt

Reserve keys UCI's 'Steller' home opener
VOLLEYBALL: Opposite returns from knee surgery to lift top-ranked 'Eaters to sweep of Hawaii.
By Barry Faulkner

IRVINE — Still awaiting his return from knee surgery in 2005 that forced him to redshirt last season, UC Irvine sophomore Jon Steller said he was mindful not to overdo things in the Anteaters' men's volleyball home debut Friday against Hawaii.

And though a limit on the number of times he could jump kept him on the bench until about midway through the second game, Steller did more than enough to help No. 1-ranked UCI sweep the No. 4-ranked Warriors, 30-28, 30-26, 30-21, in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener before 2,370 at the Bren Events Center.

Steller, a 6-foot-7 left-handed opposite, had five kills in five attempts in Game 2, to help the Anteaters (5-0) erase a 13-9 deficit.

He also added an ace serve and one block assist to help the hosts establish control of the match.

Steller finished with seven kills, a .385 hitting percentage, one ace, three block assists and two solo blocks to help handle Hawaii.

"I knew he had only been cleared for a certain number of jumps, because he had knee surgery last year," UCI Coach John Speraw said. "So, when I wanted to maybe get some production out of him halfway through Game 2, I asked the trainer if he was cleared to go. She said yeah. I put him in there, and he was just on a tear right from the start."

Steller stepped in for senior Matt Webber, a second-team All-American in 2006 who struggled a bit Friday. Webber finished with five kills and hit negative .067.

"I was considering [Steller's] health, so I almost took him out to start the third game," Speraw said. "But I was told the trainers were keeping track of his jumps and he was still under that amount, so we kept him in there. I was really hoping we could finish up there in Game 3, because if we got to Game 4 or Game 5, I would have had to make a change."

After Steller changed the momentum in UCI's favor, the Anteaters jumped to leads of 7-2, 12-5 and 19-10, in Game 3.

By then, Hawaii, which lost two All-Americans from a team that finished second to UCI in the MPSF last season, had too much to overcome.

UCI senior middle blocker David Smith was not among the struggling veterans. He had 11 kills in 13 total attacks, tying his career high with an .846 hitting percentage.

Junior middle Aaron Herrell added eight kills and a team-high six total blocks.

"Our middles were good," Speraw said. "And [senior setter Brian] Thornton [47 assists] deserves a lot of credit for the middles' production, because even when we weren't passing well, he was able to set the ball in a spot where they could still get swings. You have to be a great setter in order to do that."

Senior outside hitter Jayson Jablonsky led UCI with 12 kills and seven digs. But he hit just .148, as UCI hit .273 as a team.

Hawaii hit a paltry .112 as a team and did not have anyone reach double figures in kills.

Steller and a handful of other reserves were needed on a night when some of the Anteaters' veteran standouts were less than at their best.

"I liked our contribution off the bench first and foremost," Speraw said. "We didn't bring many guys off the bench last year. I've already done more subbing this year, than I did last season. That's good for us and it's going to make us a better team."

Steller was eager to please Speraw.

"It has been a long time, so I was having a blast out there," said Steller, who had only been cleared to practice recently and had missed the Anteaters' first four matches.

"It was wonderful [to play in front of a big crowd]. I'd forgotten what that was like, it had been so long. I was expecting to be a serving specialist tonight. I just wanted to come in and contribute and do the best I could."

Sophomore Taylor Wilson also came off the bench to help UCI's cause. The 6-7 outside hitter had five kills and finished with a .400 hitting percentage.

The two teams meet again tonight at 7:30 at the Bren Center.

"Last year, we swept them, and they came back and beat us the next night," Speraw said. "I'm expecting a whole different match [tonight]."

Hawaii All-American Lauri Hakala, who played opposite last season, had a team-high nine kills at outside hitter.

[robonthemic]

The 'Eaters did what they had to do last night because Smith, Stellar, Wilson, and Thornton kicked into "win-mode." It wasn't pretty but they got the job done-- and that's what a good team does. Key personnel step up when the "stars" are having a less than shining performance and that's what I saw tonight.

Both Thornton (UCI) and Beckwith (HAW) had to deal with less-than average passes, however Thornton won out in this battle because he did give his hitters the better opportunity to get points for UCI. There were some tough, speedy serves tonight but you're going to have that on every night in the MPSF so grading both teams I'd have to give them a B-.

Personally, my favorite play of the night came in game 1 between 6'5" UCI MH Aaron Harrell againsts the 6'9" HAW MH Matt Rawson. It was game point serving to 28, Rawson was fed the quick and Harrell went up, got both hands on the ball and blocked it straight down (literally) for point and game #1.

One more night of HAW vs. UCI. More to come...

[vball808]

Hawaii had its moments, they just have trouble siding out and serving.. Once they figure that out they will be really good... Beckwith/Cervantes probably played the best... As for UCI, the bench players stepped it up big time along with david smith... Solid team effort by UCI.. Lets see what happens tonight!

[robonthemic]

vball808, kinks on both sides need to be worked out before tonight, but who knows maybe both teams were dealing with "conference-opener" jitters last night. Both teams didn't seem to be playing like they normally would.

Can't wait to see the adjustments made tonight!

[ko'olau]

Does anyone know what is going on with Hawaii's international players? Not on the roster? Not winning playing time? Eligibility issues?