2012 UC Irvine Men's Volleyball Highlights
UC Irvine won its third national championship in six years with a 3-0 (25-22, 34-32, 26-24) victory over USC.
Senior Carson Clark was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Championship after recording a match-high 22 kills, hitting .465, and added eight digs and three service aces. Clark joined Ryan Ammerman (2009) and Matt Webber (2007) as the only Anteater players to have earned MOP distinction. Kevin Tillie, Chris Austin, and Connor Hughes were named to the All-Tournament team along with Clark.
With UCI's third national championship, the Anteaters are one of only five programs (UCLA, USC, Pepperdine & BYU) to have won more than two men's volleyball titles
The Anteaters concluded the year ranked No. 1 in the country in the final AVCA Coaches Poll. The Anteaters were ranked No. 1 or No. 2 all but two weeks this season. UCI was ranked No. 1 for five weeks this season the most weeks at the top of the poll by any school in the country this year. The Anteaters have been ranked No. 1 in five different years (2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012). The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 10 for 118 consecutive weeks, including No. 1 for 26 of those weeks.
UCI ended the year 26-5 overall, which ties Lewis (26-11) for the most wins in the country this season. The Anteaters finished in a tie for second in the MPSF with a 17-5 record. The 26 overall wins is the fourth most in school history, while the 17 MPSF wins were tied for third most in school history.
UCI was 9-4 at home, 12-1 on the road and 5-0 on neutral courts. UCI ranked fourth in the country in attendance with 1,224 fans per match.
UCI captured the 2012 MPSF Championship title with back-to-back 3-2 victories over No. 1 USC and second-seed Stanford. UCI topped fifth-seed UCLA, 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Senior Carson Clark was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while Kevin Tillie and Dan McDonnell were selected to the all-tournament team. It was the second time in program history (2007) that UCI won the MPSF Championship title.
Carson Clark and Kevin Tillie were named first team American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America. It is only the second time in program history that UCI has had two players on the first team in the same season.
UCI ranked first in the country in hitting percentage (.354), assists (13.32) and win/loss percentage (.839). The Anteaters ranked second in kills (14.0) and aces (1.67). Carson Clark was third the nation with a 0.55 ace average. Jeremy Dejno was ranked 11th nationally with a 0.38 mark. Kevin Tillie ranked third in the country in hitting percentage (.387), while Dejno is sixth (.347) and Clark was 13th (.324). Tillie was also 11th in kills per set (3.80) and Clark is 12th (3.73).
Carson Clark became the first player in MPSF history to be named to the league's first-team all four years. He also made UCI history becoming the first Anteater to earn AVCA All-American honors all four years. Clark was named first team All-American as a senior and sophomore, while garnering second team as a freshman and junior.
Kevin Tillie and Jeremy Dejno joined Clark on the All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first-team, while Dan McDonnell was a second team All-MPSF honoree. It is the first time in the program's history that three Anteaters have been selected to the MPSF first team in the same year. UC Irvine joined UCLA as the only two teams to have three first-team MPSF honorees. This is the first MPSF honor for Tillie, Dejno and McDonnell. John Speraw was honored as MPSF Coach of the Year.
Senior Carson Clark left his mark in the UCI record books. This season he became UCI career leader in kills (1,861), attack attempts (4,042) and aces (183). He recorded 61 service aces this season, bettering his previous school mark of 50 set in 2010.
Kevin Tillie was the last Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week (Apr. 24) honoree after his 20-kill performance against UCLA in the MPSF quarterfinals. It was Tillie's second national award this year, taking the honor on Jan. 31 as well. Carson Clark was named Sports Imports/AVCA Men's Division I-II National Player of the Week on Mar. 19. UCI players have been named a Sports Imports/AVCA Player of the Week 20 times overall with Clark also garnering the award on Apr. 4, 2011 and Apr. 12, 2010. This year, Clark was named MPSF Molten Player of the Week on Mar.12, while Tillie earned it on Mar. 5 and Jeremy Dejno was recognized on Jan. 9.
