No. 1 Seed UC Irvine Battles No. 8 Seed UCLA In MPSF Quarterfinal Match Saturday
April 22, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
THIS WEEK
MPSF Quarterfinal Match
No. 8 Seed UCLA at No. 1 Seed UC Irvine · Saturday, Apr. 25 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Center
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Top-seeded UC Irvine will battle eighth-seeded UCLA in a MPSF quarterfinal match Saturday (Apr. 25) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center. Buy Tickets Now.
UCI has faced the Bruins twice in the MPSF tournament, both times in quarterfinal matches.
The Anteaters defeated the Bruins 3-1 in 2012 and in 2009.
The Anteaters are 11-10 all-time in MPSF post-season matches, falling to Stanford last season, 3-2 in the quarterfinals.
UCI, as the No. 1 seed, will be in the Bren Center for as long as it competes in the MPSF event.
With a 3-0 win over UC San Diego last week, UCI won the MPSF regular season title with a 19-3 league record.
It is the third regular season MPSF title for the Anteaters. The team was also the No. 1 seed in 2009 and 2006, but was upset in the semifinals by USC and Long Beach State, respectively.
The Anteaters have won MPSF Championship titles in 2012 and 2007.
UCI is 25-4 overall, the most wins in the country. UCI has won seven in a row and 19 of the last 21 outings.
The Anteaters moved up to No. 2 in the AVCA Coaches poll, the highest ranking of the season. UCI dropped one spot in the NCAA RPI and sits in third behind Lewis and Loyola.
The 12th-ranked Bruins are 13-13 overall and are coming off of sweep of Stanford last week.
UCI defeated UCLA twice this season, winning 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-17) at home and 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20) at Pauley Pavilion.
In the last match on Apr. 10, UCI was led by Zack La Cavera with 20 kills and three aces. Travis Woloson added 13 kills, while Tamir Hershko recorded 12 kills and two aces. Jake Arnitz paced UCLA with 15 kills followed by Mitch Stahl with 13 and J.T. Hatch with 11.
In the first match at the Bren Events Center on Feb. 27, the Anteaters hit .317 to the Bruins' .045 and had a 9-2 advantage in service aces. Tamir Hershko had 10 kills for UCI and Michael Fisher led UCLA with seven kills.
The Anteaters trail UCLA 40-18 in the series records all-time.
Saturday's contest features two of the best serving teams in the country. UCI leads the MPSF and is sixth in the country with a 1.52 ace average, while UCLA is second in the conference with a 1.48 mark.
UCI leads the nation in kills (13.92) and hitting percentage (0.358) and is second in assists (13.13).
UCI runs a balanced offensive attack. Opposite La Cavera is second among MPSF players in points (4.58) and kills (3.72), while outside hitter Tamir Hershko ranks fifth in kills (3.58) and fourth in points (4.16).
Middle blocker Andrew Benz is hitting at a .508 clip, while Jason Agopian hits .410. Agopian leads the squad at the net, averaging 1.01 blocks per set.
Travis Woloson has moved in to the starting lineup and is averaging 1.25 kills per set overall, but 2.74 over the last 27 sets.
All three of UCI's pin hitters have garnered AVCA National Player of the Week this season. Tamir Hershko won the award on Jan. 13, Travis Woloson took home the accolade on Mar. 31 and Zack La Cavera was honored on Apr. 7. UCI's is the only school to have three athletes win the distinction this year.
Libero Michael Brinkley leads the MPSF with a 2.95 dig average. He set a school record with 25 digs against Long Beach State (4/3). The previous UCI rally-scoring record was 21 by Brent Asuka versus CSUN in 2007 and the all-era record was 23 by James Felton against CSUN in 1991. It was the most digs by an MPSF player since Erik Shoji totaled 26 in four sets on Feb. 13, 2009. The senior currently has 286 digs this season which ranks fourth on the UCI season list. The two-time All-American, who ranks second among UCI players all-time with 1,055 career digs, 101 shy of Brent Asuka's record.
UCI has out-dug their opponent in all but one match this year.
At the end of March, UCI beat BYU twice on the road, snapping the Cougars 36-home match winning streak which dates back to Feb. 1, 2013. The last time a team beat BYU twice dates back to Feb. 3 & 4, 2012 when Stanford accomplished the feat.
The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 15 for 167 consecutive weeks.
UC Irvine has won four of the last eight national championships, claiming the title in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013.
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