UC Irvine Competes In NCAA Championship Semifinal Thursday
May 04, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
THIS WEEK - NCAA SEMIFINAL No. 1
Maples Pavilion - Stanford, Calif.
No. 3 Seed Loyola/No. 6 Seed Pfeiffer vs No. 2 Seed UC Irvine · Thursday, May 7 · 6:00 pm
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NO. 2 SEED UC IRVINE BATTLES LOYOLA OR PFEIFFER: UC Irvine, the No. 2 seed, will battle either third-seeded Loyola University Chicago or sixth-seeded Pfeiffer Thursday (May 7) at 6:00 p.m. in a semifinal match of the NCAA Championship at Maples Pavilion on the campus of Stanford.
The Ramblers and Falcons will square off on Tuesday (May 5) in a play-in match at 6:00 p.m. followed by No. 4 Hawaii facing No. 5 Penn State at 8:00 p.m. The winner of the second match will meet No. 1 seed Lewis at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday.
The winners of Thursday's matches will play in the Championship Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at
Maples.
AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP: The Anteaters are 8-1 all-time in NCAA competition, capturing four of the last eight national titles (2007, 2009, 2012, 2013).
After losing to Penn State, 3-2, in their debut in 2006, the Anteaters have not lost an NCAA tournament match. UCI hasn't lost a set in their last three NCAA matches.
UCI was the first team to win back-to-back titles since UCLA in 1995 and 1996.
UCI has been the No. 1 seed for the tournament three times (2006, 2009, 2012) and the second seed on three occasions (2007, 2013, 2015).
VS PFEIFFER: This will be the first meeting for the Anteaters against the Falcons.
ABOUT PFEIFFER: Pfeiffer won their third Conference Carolinas Tournament championship in the last four years defeating Erskine, 3-0.
The Falcons enter the NCAAs with a 21-3 record, tying Pfeiffer's all-time record for wins in a season. Pfeiffer leads the nation in assists with a 13.19 average and are second behind the Anteaters in kills (13.82).
VS LOYOLA: UCI is 3-3 against Loyola all-time. The Ramblers won the first three meetings and UCI has won the last three.
The teams have met once in the post-season with UCI winning 3-0 in the 2013 semifinals in Loyola's NCAA debut.
ABOUT THE RAMBLERS: Loyola enters the week 25-2 overall after beating top-seeded Lewis, 3-1 in the MIVA Championship. The Ramblers only two losses of the season are to Lewis. They are 8-1 on the road and 3-0 in neutral matches this season.
Loyola is the defending national champions, beating Lewis and Stanford on their home court to capture the 2014 title.
HEAVY HITTERS: If Loyola should advance to Thursday's match, two of the best players in the country will square off. Loyola's Thomas Jaeschke is a two-time MIVA Player of the Year and averages 4.04 kills and 0.58 aces per set, while UCI's Zack La Cavera, the MPSF Player of the Year, owns a 3.88 kill average and 0.36 ace average.
HIGH OCTANE OFFENSES COLLIDE: Loyola and UCI are the top two offensive teams in the country. The Ramblers own a .358 hitting percentage and the Anteaters follow at .356.
FAMILIAR FACE: Loyola senior Cody Caldwell grew up five minutes from the UC Irvine campus in Newport Beach and played club volleyball with UC Irvine seniors Zack La Cavera, Michael Brinkley and Travis Woloson for Balboa Bay.
Caldwell was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2014 NCAA Tournament after having a match-high 20 kills in the championship.
VERSUS THE REST OF THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: This season, UCI is 2-1 against Hawaii and 0-1 versus Lewis.
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 Flyers beat UCI 3-0 in the season opener in Irvine. La Cavera did not play in that match.
UCI is 21-30 all-time against Hawaii, 3-1 versus Lewis and 8-3 against Penn State.
The Anteaters and the Nittany Lions have met three times in the post-season with UCI holding the 2-1 edge.
ON THE RECORD: UCI is 28-4 overall. The 28 wins are the most in the country this season and second most in UCI history. The 2007 Anteaters hold the school record with 29 wins.
UCI is riding a season-best 10 match winning streak.
UCI is 15-3 at home, 11-1 on the road and 2-0 on neutral courts this season. The Anteaters are 14-1 in three sets matches, 8-1 in four games and 6-2 when going five.
NCAA STATISTICS: UCI leads the nation in kills (13.91) and is second in hitting percentage (0.356) and assists (13.12).
BALANCED OFFENSE: UCI runs a balanced offensive attack. Opposite Zack La Cavera is second among MPSF players in kills at 3.88 per set, while outside hitter Tamir Hershko ranks fifth at 3.55.
Middle blocker Andrew Benz is hitting at a .514 clip, while Jason Agopian hits .404. Agopian averages 1.74 kills and leads the team with a 0.97 block average. Benz averages 1.46 kills and 0.85 blocks.
WOLOSON STEPPIN UP: Outside hitter Travis Woloson averages 1.29 kills overall, but has averaged 2.38 kills over the last 39 sets. He has recorded kills in double-digits five of the 10 last matches.
ALPHA MALE: Senior Zack La Cavera recorded a career-high 25 kills in UCI's MPSF semifinal win against USC then turned around 12 hours later and put down 26 kills in the championship match against fifth-ranked Pepperdine. For his efforts, he was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
La Cavera leads the MPSF in total kills (458), points (554.0), and aces (43). He is hitting .347 this year (458-124-963), helping the Anteaters lead the NCAA in kills per set (13.91), and the conference in team aces (179). The opposite has posted 26 double-digit kill performances, including a streak of 13 straight entering the NCAA semis. Of those 26 double-digit kill efforts, he hit over .400 in 13 matches and over .300 in six other matches. He has recorded 20-plus kills six times this season. The senior became the first Anteater player to be named MPSF Player of the Week on back-to-back weeks (Apr. 6 & 13), the first to do so in the conference in nearly two full seasons. He is also second on the team in digs (161) and third in blocks (90). The senior has also collected the AVCA National Player of the Week accolade (Apr. 7) this year.
TRIO OF ANTEATERS EARN ALL-AMERICA: For the first time in school history, UC Irvine had three players named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I-II Men's All-America first team highlighted by senior Michael Brinkley.
Brinkley becomes UCI's most decorated men's volleyball player, earning his third consecutive first team All-America selection. The libero is the 14th player in AVCA history and the first in program history to be a three-time AVCA first-team All-American. Brinkley joins Stanford's Erik Shoji as the only three-time libero selections. Shoji is the lone four-time (2009-2012) honoree.
Earning first team All-America status for the first time were Zack La Cavera and Tamir Hershko.
BRINKLEY THE DIGGING MACHINE: Senior libero Michael Brinkley, who leads the MPSF with a 2.95 dig average, has the most digs of any active NCAA player with 1,091, which is 65 shy of Brent Asuka's UCI career record. He currently has 322 digs this season which ranks second on the UCI season list, 14 shy of Asuka's school's season record set in 2006. 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.
UCI has out-dug their opponent in all but one match (Ohio State) this year.
OFF THE FINGERTIPS: UCI has used two setters this season. Sophomore Michael Saeta started the first 23 matches then senior Roberto Frazzoni has been in the starting lineup six of the last nine outings. Saeta is averaging 8.58 set assists and 1.08 digs, while Frazzoni is averaging 8.10 assists and 1.27 digs.
FROM THE SERVICE LINE: UCI is the best serving team in the MPSF with a 1.48 mark. The Anteaters have fired five or more aces in 20 matches this season, including a season-high 11 twice at CSUN on Feb. 11 and at Cal Baptist Jan. 24.
La Cavera leads with 43 followed by Hershko and Saeta with 37 apiece.
HERSHKO MAKES HIS MARK: Sophomore Tamir Hershko has gathered several accolades this season. Beside collecting first team All-America and All-MPSF, the outside hitter was named MPSF Player of the Week twice (1/12 & 2/16) as well as AVCA National Player of the Week on Jan. 13. He has recorded kills in double-figures 25 times, including a season-high 22 at Stanford (2/20). The sophomore fired a career-high five aces against Penn State (1/8) on his way to being named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2015 Outrigger Resorts Invitational.
IN THE RANKINGS: The Anteaters moved to No. 1 in this week's AVCA Coaches poll, its highest ranking of the season.
The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 15 for 168 consecutive weeks. UCI has been ranked No. 1 in eight different seasons (2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
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 earn the distinction this year.
QUARTET TABBED FIRST-TEAM ALL-MPSF: For the first time in UCI history, four players were named to the All-MPSF first Team. Zack La Cavera was named MPSF Player of the Year, becoming only the second Anteater to earn that distinction (Jayson Jablonsky, 2006). Michael Brinkley, Tamir Hershko and Jason Agopian were also named to the first team.
MPSF RECAP: 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).
Then the Anteaters took home their third MPSF Tournament crown with wins over UCLA (3-0), USC (3-2) and Pepperdine (3-1).
Zack La Cavera was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player. Libero Michael Brinkley and middle blocker Andrew Benz were named to the all-tournament team.
CONQUERING THE COUGARS: 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.
LOOKING BACK AT THE PREDICITIONS: UC Irvine was picked fifth in the MPSF Preseason Coaches Poll.
AT MAPLES: The Anteaters made a visit to Maples Pavilion earlier this season, defeating Stanford, 3-2 on Feb. 20. Both Loyola and Lewis have picked up a win at Maples this year.
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