Second Seed UC Irvine Battles Seventh Seed UC Santa Barbara In MPSF Quartfinal Match
April 16, 2013 | Men's Volleyball
THIS WEEK - MPSF QUARTERFINAL
No. 7 Seed UC Santa Barbara at No. 2 Seed UC Irvine · Saturday, Apr. 20 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Center
Live Stats
Second seed UC Irvine will host seventh-seeded UC Santa Barbara in a quarterfinal match of the MPSF Tournament Saturday (Apr. 20) at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.
UCI is 10-8 in 11 previous MPSF Tournament appearances. This is the first time the Anteaters have been the No. 2 seed in the MPSF postseason.
UCI won the MPSF Championship in 2012 as the No. 4 seed, defeating UCLA (3-1), USC (3-2) and Stanford (3-2) to capture the title. UCI also won the 2007 MPSF Championship.
This will be the first time the Anteaters and Gauchos have met in the postseason.
The third-ranked Anteaters are 2-0 against seventh-ranked UCSB this year.
In the first meeting in Santa Barbara, UCI won 3-0 behind Kevin Tillie's 18 kills. Zack La Cavera added 13 kills, while Connor Hughes had 10 kills. Middle blocker Collin Mehring had a team best three block assists and hit .750 on seven kills in eight attempts with one error. Matt Marsh led the Gauchos with 14 kills followed by Austin Kingi with 12 kill.
Jeremy Dejno totaled a team-high 16 kills and Tillie posted his second double-double of the year with 14 kills and 16 digs to lead UCI to a 3-1 win over the Guachos at the Bren Center on Valentine's Day. Marsh recorded 19 kills and 14 digs to lead UCSB.
UCI trails UC Santa Barbara 31-23 in the series records all-time, but the Anteaters have won the last six matches.
UCSB enters the match with a 15-15 overall record. The Gauchos won seven in a row before losing four of the last five outings.
UCI enters the week 22-6 overall. The Anteaters have won five straight matches and 15 straight sets.
The Anteaters ended the regular season tied with Long Beach State for second place in the MPSF standings with an 18-6 mark. UCI held the second place tiebreaker due to beating the Forty-Niners twice this season in league play.
The Anteaters' 22 wins this year are tied for fifth most in a season, while the 18 league wins were third.
The 22 wins are tied for the most in the country with BYU, Long Beach State and Mount Olive. Both the Anteaters and Forty-Niners are tied for the longest winning streak in the league at five.
UCI moved up one spot to No. 3 in the AVCA Coaches poll. The Anteaters remained No. 2 in the Volleyball Magazine poll. The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 15 for 135 consecutive weeks.
The Anteaters are coming off victories over Cal State Northridge and Penn State last week.
Opposite Zack La Cavera led UCI averaging 4.00 kills, 1.50 blocks and 5.08 points per set averages over the two matches.
MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Sat, Apr. 20 – Quarterfinals at Campus Sites
Match 1: 8 seed Hawaii at 1 seed BYU
Live Video & Audio Television: BYUtv
Statbroadcast
Match 2: 5 seed Pepperdine at 4 seed UCLA
MPSF Live Audio Live Audio
Stats
Match 3: 6 seed Stanford at 3 seed Long Beach State
Stats
Match 4: 7 seed UC Santa Barbara at 2 seed UC Irvine
Stats
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