THIS WEEK
Match: UC Irvine vs UC San Diego · Saturday, Apr. 14 · 7:00 p.m. · RIMAC Arena
Radio: http://ucirvinesports.com/media/listen_live/index
Live Stats: http://www.ucsdtritons.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=5800&KEY=
Video: http://www.ucsdtritons.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=5800&KEY=
NO. 2 UC IRVINE CLOSES OUT REGULAR SEASON AT NO. 12 UC SAN DIEGO: No. 2 UC Irvine will close out the regular season traveling to No. 12 UC San Diego Saturday (Apr. 14) at 7:00 p.m. at the RIMAC Arena.
VS THE OPPONENTS: UCI leads UC San Diego, 34-7 in the series records. The Anteaters have won seven of the last eight meetings with the Tritons.
UCI won the first meeting of the year, 3-0 in Irvine.
Carson Clark led all players with 13 kills and three service aces. Jeremy Dejno and Connor Hughes added eight and six kills, respectively. UC San Diego was led by Vaun Lennon with nine kills followed by Greg Smith with eight and Carl Eberts with six kills.
UCI out-hit the Tritons, .469-.219 and had more blocks (8-3) and aces (7-1).
UC San Diego enters the week with an 8-18 overall and 6-15 MPSF record. The Tritons will host Cal Baptist on Thursday. UCSD has won five of their last seven matches entering the week.
MPSF SEEDING COMES DOWN TO THE FINAL MATCH OF THE REGULAR SEASON: Qualifying for the MPSF Championship as well as hosting a quarterfinal match is still up in the air heading into the final week of the regular season. A win for UC Irvine at UC San Diego Saturday gives the Anteaters a home quarterfinal match. UCI only holds the tiebreaker over USC (head-to-head MPSF points) in conference seeding. A pair of wins over Long Beach State and Northridge would guarantee USC the top seed and home court in the MPSF postseason. The Trojans only hold a two-way tiebreaker over Stanford (head-to-head MPSF matches). BYU is already guaranteed a home quarterfinal match and holds the tiebreaker over both UCI and USC. UCLA travels to Pacifc and Stanford and a pair of wins in Nor Cal gives the Bruins a home match for the quarterfinals. UCLA owns tiebreakers over BYU and UCI (head-to-head MPSF sets), and USC (head-to-head MPSF points). Stanford is at home this week, entertaining UC Santa Barbara and UCLA. Two wins this week for the Cardinal would clinch home court for the quarterfinals. Stanford tiebreakers are held over BYU and UCI. Pepperdine and Long Beach State have already qualified for the postseason with Northridge, UC San Diego and UCSB vying for the final spot.
ON THE RECORD: UCI enters the week 20-5 overall and 16-5 in the MPSF. UCI is 9-1 on the road and 8-4 at home and 3-0 on neutral courts.
RACKING UP WINS: UCI's 20 overall wins is tied for fourth most in school history. The 16 MPSF wins are fourth most in school history. The Anteaters went 20-2 in 2006, 19-3 in 2009 and 17-5 in 2007 in league action.
IN THE RANKINGS: UC Irvine remained at No. 2 in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll. The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 15 for 115 consecutive weeks.
UCI is ranked No. 4 in the latest Asiscs/Volleyball Magazine poll.
The Anteaters have been ranked No. 1 in five different years (2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012) under head coach John Speraw. The Anteaters was the top-ranked team for four weeks this season and have held the No. 1 spot for 26 weeks overall.
MPSF POST-SEASON ON DECK: Following the regular season finale, UCI will compete in the MPSF Championships beginning with a quarterfinal match on April 21. The Anteaters will have to wait for the regular season to be completed to finalize the seeding and home match designations. The four winning teams from the quarterfinals will advance to the MPSF semifinals on April 26 at the highest remaining seed's home court. The championship match will be played on April 28.
USC is the host for the NCAA Championship on May 3 and 5 at the Galen Center. Tickets are currently on sale.
CLARK LEADS: Senior Carson Clark leads the team in kills (3.74), points (4.56) and aces (0.54). The All-American opposite has recorded has recorded kills in double-figures 16 times this season and has fired at least one ace in all but four matches this year.
IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: THE UCI ranks first in the country in aces (1.71) and hitting percentage (.353) and are second in kills (13.73) and assists (13.03).
Senior Carson Clark leads the nation with a 0.54 ace average. Sophomore Jeremy Dejno is ranked ninth nationally with a 0.42 mark.
Kevin Tillie ranks third in the country in hitting percentage (.387), while Jeremy Dejno is sixth (.351) and Carson Clark is 11th (.337). Clark is also 11th in kills per set (3.74).
LAST TIME OUT: The Anteaters split a pair of matches last week, beating No. 6 Pepperdine, 3-2 then falling to No. 1 USC, 3-1.
Carson Clark had a match-high 24 kills versus Pepperdine, while hitting .500 then led the Anteaters versus the Trojans with 17 kills. Jeremy Dejno added 13 kills in each match.
The Anteaters tied its season-high in blocks with 13 and was led by senior middle blocker Dan McDonnell with six total blocks.
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