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Post by mikesmith on Mar 19, 2006 4:23:48 GMT -5
This UCI team is clearly a TEAM. I think it is good for volleyball fans to see this.
They have outstanding players, but none that you would consider great.
Their libero could be great... only time will tell.
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Post by ucivball on Mar 20, 2006 3:28:07 GMT -5
Game report from a diehard uci fan:
game one was a disaster for us. i don't think pepperdine made many mistakes. they served well, hit with power, and of course, their primary weapon, was blocking and touching every ball. pepp's blocking forced uci to nearly play perfect in order to score points. however, with pepp serving tough and uci not executing, we never really had full swings at the ball, and if we did, pepp touched a lot of balls high and they became easy digs for the backrow. in game one, uci wasn't able to handle the pressure of tough pepperdine serving along with adjusting its game plan to the giants that were patrolling the pepperdine net. to fully understand how big pepperdine is, they only have one player (excluding the libero) that is under 6'7. john grobe, one of their outsides is probably 6'4 but jumps really well.
things were going so bad for uci as a team, but worse of all, webber, arguably uci's best offensive weapon, tanked. got blocked at least 3 times and hit a couple balls out and one into the antenae. was yanked towards the end and he really seemed like he wanted to find a hole to craw into. game one score was 30-25, but it sure felt more like 30-20.
half way through the 2nd game, it was the same picture. uci was down about 5 points. but things turned around when jablonsky went back to serve. jablonsky has the best jump serve from uci in terms of consistency and speed. uci was able to make up 4 points and turned what was a rout into a tightly contested game. the fans sensed that irvine was getting back it's groove, at least the form they showed against byu. once the screws started to tighten, pepperdine didn't seem so formidable any longer, their serving began to lighten up with costly errors, and their ball control wasn't as precise. from about 29-29 to the end of the game, 34-32. uci was just able to withstand every challenge that pepperdine had to win that important point. uci won after a long rally and jablonksy ended game two with a kill from the backrow. webber stepped up with force from his disastrous game one.
game three and game four proved to be the opposite of what happened in game one and the first half of game two. uci took control, and although pepperdine kept it too close for comfort, uci appeared to play with the confidence and determination which allows them to be at their best. uci's execution was clinical, as was pepperdine's which made for excellent back and forth volleyball. however, winder, the giant of a setter from pepperdine, seemed more determined to take the game into his own hands as he dumped some amazing balls straight down without any opposition at the net. we were all relieved everytime he went backrow.
game four, uci came out determined to end the match in four. middle blocker harrel came alive and started to pound balls past the giant middle blockers of pepperdine. he provided THE hit of the night on a one handled set from thorton which he hit straight down with the ball bouncing into the stands. none of the pepperdine defenders reacted until the ball was well on its way into the stands. what a hit! pepperdine suffered a bit as their ball control let them down. if pepperdine has any weaknesses, it's their tall outside, parfitt. 6'7 hammer offensively but can't pass. pepperdine was hiding him as much as possible and the right side carroll had to step in and pass, which eliminated, at times, the threat of a D attack since he had to pass.
players of the game:
uci: probably webber/jablonsky, can't give it to webber outright despite his 24 hills because of so many errors. 14 in all, yikes!
pepperdine: winder. such a force with his blocking, and of course, his dumps, and the threat of his dumps.
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Post by mvbdad on Mar 20, 2006 10:14:06 GMT -5
Nice synopsis uci . UCI just played better overall in the 4th game and took the match , and both teams were plagued by bad calls at in opportune times.
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Post by robonthemic on Mar 20, 2006 12:17:06 GMT -5
Great synopsis. Adding on, Spittle's blocks on Carroll towards the tail end of game 4 where HUMONGOUS! Carroll has an arm on him that's for sure! Spittle also kept the team fired up when it seemed like they were getting down. PLUS, Thornton's determination to get to the 2nd ball was admirable-- he wanted to run the show and you could see his determination on errant passes/digs to get to those 2nd balls.
From a mental standpoint, Webber's game has improved signifcantly. He bounced right back in game 2 and kept swinging away. He faced the biggest blocks of the year that night and although the errors were high on the stat sheet, the fact of the matter was Pepp had to focus on him which opened up middle, outside and backrow attack of Irvine.
UC San Diego is next after UCI's finals week-- hopefully the rest will get the guys prepared for the remainder of the season.
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Post by volleynutt on Mar 20, 2006 15:37:51 GMT -5
It looks like they get a little break ! It sounds like it was a great match . Is Weber that good ?
It looks like serve receive might be Pepperdine's achille's heel . Their libero had a lot of digs , he may be around at that position for a while. I was checking the UCI team and the only player they lose for next year is Spittle , wow ! Pepperdine will lose Hein this year , are there any big guys behind him to start next year or is that this years recruiting focus.
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Post by CityTechLegend on Mar 21, 2006 0:20:45 GMT -5
I think the loss to Hawai'i proves that the MPSF is truly up for graps this year. If you look at the match by match breakdown most of the top tier teams have split for most of the season. Now with UCI beating Pepp it's definately possible that either UCI or Hawai'i, based on who comes out tops at the end of the championship tournament will have the at large and the final this year will most likely be epic. that's what my post about "predicting the F4" is all about. This seems like the most competative year for the men's game in long time amongst the top tier teams. Can't wait for the MPSF playoffs!!! Should be fun to watch. ;D
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Post by robonthemic on Mar 21, 2006 2:36:03 GMT -5
In responding to, "Is Webber that good?", I'll have to say he has always been good. Watching him as a freshmen he had a big swing, but needed to be taught the mental game of volleyball-- which is what Speraw, Presho and Hawks have been doing. Last year, he had to battle for a starting position because of a 6'9" OPP they brought in who also had a big arm. Basically the competition for the starting spot last year put a flame to Webber's rear and probably gave him more incentive to improve his game because he wasn't guaranteed the starting spot. Speraw has really got Webber playing an excellent overall game which was the missing piece to realizing his potential.
Webber will only get better because his confidence his growing immensely on the court. He WANTS to be the "go-to" guy now and is willing to put it on the line if he needs to (keep in mind you've got the current Player of the Week in Jablonsky wanting it also)!
Can't wait for them to go back into action!
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Post by ucivball on Mar 21, 2006 3:25:04 GMT -5
the other opposite, john stellar, is on a medical redshirt right now. he will come back next year as a redshirt sophomore. i don't think he is quite 6'9. more like 6'7. but he is also a powerful lefty and has a deadly jump serve.
it will be interesting for irvine to figure out next year who will play the opposite position. before stellar was hampered with knee tendonitis last year, he was the go to guy and hit at a very impressive clip. next year, if webber or stellar can learn how to pass and move to the outside, uci will have amazing power and athleticism. however, taylor wilson, a 6'7 freshman this year is already waiting in the wings for his chance at outside after spittle graduates. so more likely it will be webber and stellar battling it out for the opposite position.
if webber keeps up his form, i can't see how stellar can take the opposite position away from him. but it's a good dilema to have if you're john speraw.
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Post by robonthemic on Mar 21, 2006 11:59:42 GMT -5
My bad info on the height--sorry. Maybe Stellar can be 6'9" on a good hair day?  Stellar had a cannon for an arm last year-- you're right on that! |
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