Irvine, Calif. – Second seed UC Irvine rallied to win the final two sets and defeat seventh seed UC Santa Barbara, 3-2 (26-24, 22-25, 20-25, 25-19, 15-10) in a MPSF quarterfinal match at the Bren Events Center Saturday.
With the win, UCI advances to the MPSF semifinals and will battle third-seeded and second-ranked Long Beach State Thursday (Apr. 25) at 4:00 p.m. PT in Smith Fieldhouse at BYU. No. 1 BYU will meet No. 4 UCLA at 7:00 p.m.
The Anteaters, ranked No. 3 nationally, improve to 23-6 overall and extend its winning streak to six in a row. UC Santa Barbara ends its season at 15-16 overall.
Sophomore opposite Zack La Cavera posted a career-high 19 kills to lead UC Irvine, while also adding six digs and two block assists. Senior All-American Kevin Tillie had 15 kills, seven digs, two aces and two blocks. Middle blocker Scott Kevorken and outside hitter Jeremy Dejno each recorded seven kills with Kevorken totaling four total blocks. Middle blocker Collin Mehring played four sets and recorded a match-best seven block assists to go with five kills and an ace. Setter Chris Austin had a season-high 53 set assists, 11 digs, two aces and four total blocks. Libero Michael Brinkley totaled a match-high 12 digs and outside hitter Kyle Russell recorded six kills and five digs.
Evan Licht led UC Santa Barbara with 19 kills, 10 digs and four blocks followed by Grant Goswiller with 15 kills and seven digs. Setter Jonah Seif had 46 set assists, seven digs and four total blocks.
Blocking late in the match was key as UCI out-blocked the Gauchos, 14-10 overall.
UCI jumped out to an early 6-2 lead before the Gauchos went on a 10-5 run to take the 12-11 advantage. With the score tied at 13-13, the Anteaters used a Scott Kevorken kill, a Chris Austin ace and a La Cavera kill to go back ahead 16-13. UCSB would answer scoring the next three points to knot the score again at 16-16. A three-point spurt by UCI which ended with a La Cavera kill gave UCI a 21-18 cushion. The Gauchos would catch the Anteaters at 23-23 on a Grant Goswiller ace. After trading a point each, UCI would score the final two points on a kill by La Cavera and another Austin ace, 26-24.
UCSB took a 12-9 lead in the second set then UCI scored the next three on a Gaucho attack error and kills by Tillie and La Cavera, 12-12. The Gauchos would score the next two on a pair of Evan Licht kills, 14-12. A kill by Jake Stahl on an overpass would open a 17-13 lead for the Gauchos. UCI would close to 21-20 on a block by Chris Austin and Collin Mehring, but UCSB would score four of the last six points to take the set 25-22.
UCSB would jump out to a 5-0 lead in the third set and controlled the game winning 25-20. UCI would get as close as 21-19 on two UCSB errors, but the Gauchos would record four of the next five points, 25-20. The Anteaters hit .077 (9-7-26) in the set.
UCI had the early 6-3 lead in the fourth set behind a pair of Jeremy Dejno kills. Two kills by La Cavera plus a Gaucho attack error pushed the UCI lead to 12-7. The Anteaters would win the set 25-19 on a Kevorken kill in the middle.
In the fifth set, a UCSB error and an Austin solo block gave UCI the 2-0 lead. A Santa Barbara kill was followed by a Gaucho service error and a block by Tillie and Mehring to open a 4-1 lead for the Anteaters. UCI continued to lead 10-8 when a UCSB service error and back-to-back blocks by Mehring and Dejno stretched the Anteater lead to 13-8. A kill by Tillie ended the set, 15-10 and the match 3-2. UCSB hit .000 (4-4-15) and had four service errors in the deciding set, while UCI hit .417 (7-2-12).
MPSF SEMIFINALS
Thursday, April 25:
4:00 PM (PT) 2 Seed UC Irvine vs. 3 Seed Long Beach State
7:00 PM (PT) 1 Seed BYU vs. 4 Seed UCLA
FINAL
Saturday, April 27
7:00 p.m Winners of Thursday matches
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