THIS WEEK - MPSF TOURNAMENT
Tickets
Semifinal No. 1
No. 3 Pepperdine vs. No. 2 Hawaii · Thursday, Apr. 30 · 5:00 p.m. · Bren Events Center
Live Stats Video
Semifinal No. 2
No. 4 Seed USC at No. 1 Seed UC Irvine · Thursday, Apr. 30 · 7:30 p.m. · Bren Events Center
Live Stats Video
QUICK HITS
NO. 1 SEED UC IRVINE BATTLES NO. 4 SEED USC IN MPSF SEMIFINAL: UC Irvine, the top seed, will battle fourth-seeded USC Thursday (Apr. 30) at 7:30 p.m. at the Bren Events Center in a semifinal match of the MPSF Championship.
No. 2 Hawaii will face No. 3 Pepperdine in the first semifinal at 5:00 p.m.
The winners of Thursday's match will play in the Championship Friday at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Center.
VS USC: UCI has faced the Trojans four times in the MPSF tournament and are 2-2 versus USC. The last time the two teams met was 2012 when UCI beat the Trojans 3-2 in the semifinals.
The teams split a pair of matches this season each winning 3-2 on the others home court.
In fact, the last four meetings between the Anteaters and Trojans have gone five sets.
In the first meeting this year, UCI held a 7-2 lead in the fifth game and the Trojans rallied to win 15-13. UCI out-dug (49-45) and out-served (7-5) USC, but the Trojans out-hit the Anteaters .305-.261. Each team had 12 blocks. UCI was plagued by 22 service errors. Zack La Cavera led UCI with a then-career and match-high 21 kills. Tamir Hershko recorded 17 kills, while Michael Saeta posted 47 set assists, two aces, seven digs and four total blocks. Josh Kirchner led the Trojans with 15 kills followed by Christopher Orenic with 14 kills and 10 digs and Robert Feathers with 12 kills and six total blocks. Micah Christenson recorded 52 set assists, five block assists and a match-high 15 digs.
UCI returned the favor at the Galen Center coming from behind 0-2 to win. Andrew Benz ended the night with a career-high 11 kills and a team-high four block assists, taking over the final set going 4-0-5. La Cavera and Hershko each recorded a match-high 18 kills. USC was led by Christopher Orenic with 12 kills followed by Alex Slaught with 11 kills and Robert Feathers with 10 kills and a match-best seven block assists. The Anteaters out-hit (.364 -.291) and out-dug (35-24) the Trojans, while USC out-blocked (11.5-8.5) and out-served (7-4) UCI.
The Trojans are 31-27 all-time versus UCI (UCI only counts NCAA eligible matches in the series records).
ABOUT THE TROJANS: USC is 19-8 overall after beating BYU 3-2 in the quarterfinals. The Trojans have won five straight and eight of their last nine matches.
AT THE MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP: The Anteaters are 12-11 all-time in MPSF post-season matches.
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.
REGULAR SEASON MPSF CHAMPIONS: UCI won the MPSF regular season title with a 19-3 league record.
It was the third regular season MPSF title for the Anteaters (2006, 2009).
ON THE RECORD: UCI is 26-4 overall. The 26 wins are tied for most in the country this season with Lewis and are tied for fourth most in UCI history. The 2007 Anteaters hold the school record with 29 wins.
UCI has won eight in a row and 17 of the last 18 outings.
IN THE RANKINGS: The Anteaters are No. 2 in the AVCA Coaches poll, its highest ranking of the season. UCI remained at third in the NCAA RPI behind Lewis and Loyola.
The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 15 for 168 consecutive weeks.
BREAKING IT DOWN: UCI is 13-3 at home, 11-1 on the road and 2-0 on neutral courts this season. The Anteaters are 14-1 in three sets matches, 7-1 in four games and 5-2 when going five.
DEALING ACES: UCI is the best serving team in the conference. The Anteaters lead the MPSF and are fifth in the country with a 1.53 ace average.
NCAA STATISTICS: UCI leads the nation in kills (13.91) and hitting percentage (0.361) and is second in assists (13.09).
HIGH OCTANE OFFENSE: UCI runs a balanced offensive attack. Opposite La Cavera is second among MPSF players in points (4.60) and kills (3.73), while outside hitter
Tamir Hershko ranks fifth in kills (3.57) and third in points (4.17).
Middle blocker Andrew Benz is hitting at a .508 clip, while Jason Agopian hits .413. Agopian leads the squad at the net, averaging 1.03 blocks per set.
Travis Woloson has moved in to the starting lineup and is averaging 1.31 kills per set overall, but 2.77 over the last 30 sets.
AT THE PINS: 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.
BRINKLEY THE DIGGING MACHINE: Libero Michael Brinkley leads the MPSF with a 2.97 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 297 digs this season which ranks third on the UCI season list. The two-time All-American, who ranks second among UCI players all-time with 1,044 career digs, 90 shy of Brent Asuka's all-time record.
UCI has out-dug their opponent in all but one match this year.
VERSUS THE REST OF THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: UCI is 2-1 against Hawaii and 1-1 versus Pepperdine this season. The Anteaters beat Hawaii in a non-conference match, 3-0 in the championship of the Outrigger Resorts Invitational then the teams split a pair of matches at the Bren Center during the MPSF season. The Waves beat UCI 3-2 in Malibu the last time the teams met, but UCI took the first contest 3-2 in Irvine. The Anteaters are 2-0 against Hawaii in MPSF post-season action and 1-1 versus Pepperdine.
CHAMPIONSHIP CALIBER: UC Irvine has won four of the last eight national championships, claiming the title in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013.
