Post by bigfan on Apr 27, 2006 10:12:00 GMT -5
'Changed' 49ers face Anteaters
By Frank Burlison
The UC Irvine volleyball team has beaten its Long Beach State counterpart in four games twice this season, most recently on April 1.
So the 27-3 and top-ranked Anteaters, who take a 21-match winning streak into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament semifinals in UCI's Bren Center, should feel pretty comfortable going into a third match with the 49ers tonight, right?
Well, not quite.
"The first two matches have to be thrown out," UCI coach John Speraw said earlier this week, in anticipation of his team's game tonight, which is scheduled to get underway at 7:30, or one-half hour following the conclusion of the 5 o'clock semifinal pitting UCLA against Pepperdine.
"Their (the 49ers') lineup changed significantly with (Norm) Hutton (a sophomore opposite) out there. With what they are doing now offensively, we are going to need to make some defensive adjustments."
Since the lineup switch (made five days after that second loss to the Anteaters, in the third game of a match against BYU in Long Beach), the 49ers are 5-0, losing just two games in that stretch.
Hutton, who had a career-high 26 kills against BYU in a MPSF quarterfinal Saturday night in the Walter Pyramid, "was busting at the seams for the opportunity (to start)," Long Beach Coach Alan Knipe said.
"His arm was never a question. It was just a matter of (Hutton) staying involved on the entire play, with blocking and defense. He had to learn it wasn't a one-contact game 'just hit it hard and the play is over." "
As well as his 22-9 and No. 2-ranked team is playing going into tonight's match, Knipe and his players are fully aware of the challenge the Anteaters will present.
Speraw's team hasn't lost since dropping a 3-0 decision to the University of Hawaii Warriors in Honolulu exactly three months ago tonight.
Six Anteaters received all-MPSF honors earlier this week, including Player of the Year Jayson Jablonsky, a junior outside hitter.
UCI won five of the six MPSF regular-season matches it played against the three teams that will be visiting the Bren Center this evening, losing only to Pepperdine (in four games in Malibu on Jan. 20).
The Anteaters were 9-20 last season (Speraw's third with the program after being hired off his alma mater UCLA's staff). In a preseason poll of the 12 MPSF coaches, they were picked to finish eighth this season.
"They were really young last year," Knipe said. "And the learning curve in this league can be steep for a team so young. But it's not like they were untalented. They were just inexperienced."
And people in Irvine and in the surrounding South Orange County communities are catching on as to the caliber of volleyball product that Speraw, his staff and his players are cranking out these days.
"We knew these guys were athletic when we recruited them," Speraw said of his players. "It was just a matter of getting them experience and developing their skill level. And we're still young (with just one senior in the lineup)."
When Speraw was hired, the Anteaters had recorded just one winning season since beginning competition on the Division I level in 1989.
"We're in a position to get to the Final Four (the NCAA championships will be held at Penn State next week; even if the Anteaters lose tonight or in Saturday's final match, they will likely get the at-large bid) and that has everyone around here excited," he said.
"We haven't reached our ultimate goal yet but we have to be proud of what we have accomplished over a four-year period."
MPSF SEMIFINAL NOTES: No. 3-ranked Pepperdine (17-7) takes on No. 5 UCLA (22-12) at 5 o'clock tonight in a rematch of last year's NCAA final in Pauley Pavilion that was won by the Waves in five games. The team from Malibu beat its Westwood counterpart in both MPSF matches this season. But Coach Al Scates' Bruins have won nine matches in a row, most recently Saturday night in Honolulu against the then-No. 2 University of Hawaii Warriors. "Long Beach and UCLA have really put together good runs," Speraw said. "They might be the two hottest teams right now." Tournament passes ($30 for adults and $10 for students) and single-day tickets ($20 and $5) are available today and tonight only at the Bren Center Ticket Office (949/824-5000) and at the door. Fund-raising efforts by the UCI volleyball program will enable the first 500 UCI students to be admitted free tonight. And Long Beach State has purchased 100 tickets for its students (identification will be required). Directions to the Bren Center: South-bound on the 405, exit on Jamboree and turn right (south), then left (east) on Campus and right (south) on Mesa. Parking is available in the Mesa Parking Structure adjacent to the Bren Center.
By Frank Burlison
The UC Irvine volleyball team has beaten its Long Beach State counterpart in four games twice this season, most recently on April 1.
So the 27-3 and top-ranked Anteaters, who take a 21-match winning streak into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament semifinals in UCI's Bren Center, should feel pretty comfortable going into a third match with the 49ers tonight, right?
Well, not quite.
"The first two matches have to be thrown out," UCI coach John Speraw said earlier this week, in anticipation of his team's game tonight, which is scheduled to get underway at 7:30, or one-half hour following the conclusion of the 5 o'clock semifinal pitting UCLA against Pepperdine.
"Their (the 49ers') lineup changed significantly with (Norm) Hutton (a sophomore opposite) out there. With what they are doing now offensively, we are going to need to make some defensive adjustments."
Since the lineup switch (made five days after that second loss to the Anteaters, in the third game of a match against BYU in Long Beach), the 49ers are 5-0, losing just two games in that stretch.
Hutton, who had a career-high 26 kills against BYU in a MPSF quarterfinal Saturday night in the Walter Pyramid, "was busting at the seams for the opportunity (to start)," Long Beach Coach Alan Knipe said.
"His arm was never a question. It was just a matter of (Hutton) staying involved on the entire play, with blocking and defense. He had to learn it wasn't a one-contact game 'just hit it hard and the play is over." "
As well as his 22-9 and No. 2-ranked team is playing going into tonight's match, Knipe and his players are fully aware of the challenge the Anteaters will present.
Speraw's team hasn't lost since dropping a 3-0 decision to the University of Hawaii Warriors in Honolulu exactly three months ago tonight.
Six Anteaters received all-MPSF honors earlier this week, including Player of the Year Jayson Jablonsky, a junior outside hitter.
UCI won five of the six MPSF regular-season matches it played against the three teams that will be visiting the Bren Center this evening, losing only to Pepperdine (in four games in Malibu on Jan. 20).
The Anteaters were 9-20 last season (Speraw's third with the program after being hired off his alma mater UCLA's staff). In a preseason poll of the 12 MPSF coaches, they were picked to finish eighth this season.
"They were really young last year," Knipe said. "And the learning curve in this league can be steep for a team so young. But it's not like they were untalented. They were just inexperienced."
And people in Irvine and in the surrounding South Orange County communities are catching on as to the caliber of volleyball product that Speraw, his staff and his players are cranking out these days.
"We knew these guys were athletic when we recruited them," Speraw said of his players. "It was just a matter of getting them experience and developing their skill level. And we're still young (with just one senior in the lineup)."
When Speraw was hired, the Anteaters had recorded just one winning season since beginning competition on the Division I level in 1989.
"We're in a position to get to the Final Four (the NCAA championships will be held at Penn State next week; even if the Anteaters lose tonight or in Saturday's final match, they will likely get the at-large bid) and that has everyone around here excited," he said.
"We haven't reached our ultimate goal yet but we have to be proud of what we have accomplished over a four-year period."
MPSF SEMIFINAL NOTES: No. 3-ranked Pepperdine (17-7) takes on No. 5 UCLA (22-12) at 5 o'clock tonight in a rematch of last year's NCAA final in Pauley Pavilion that was won by the Waves in five games. The team from Malibu beat its Westwood counterpart in both MPSF matches this season. But Coach Al Scates' Bruins have won nine matches in a row, most recently Saturday night in Honolulu against the then-No. 2 University of Hawaii Warriors. "Long Beach and UCLA have really put together good runs," Speraw said. "They might be the two hottest teams right now." Tournament passes ($30 for adults and $10 for students) and single-day tickets ($20 and $5) are available today and tonight only at the Bren Center Ticket Office (949/824-5000) and at the door. Fund-raising efforts by the UCI volleyball program will enable the first 500 UCI students to be admitted free tonight. And Long Beach State has purchased 100 tickets for its students (identification will be required). Directions to the Bren Center: South-bound on the 405, exit on Jamboree and turn right (south), then left (east) on Campus and right (south) on Mesa. Parking is available in the Mesa Parking Structure adjacent to the Bren Center.