No. 15 UC Irvine Playing For The Postseason This Week
April 05, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
THIS WEEK
MPSF Matches
No. 10 CSUN at No. 15 UC Irvine · Thursday, Apr. 7 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Events Center
No. 5 Long Beach State at No. 15 UC Irvine · Saturday, Apr. 9 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Events Center
QUICK HITS
THIS WEEK: UCI's post-season destiny comes down to the final week of the regular season as the Anteaters host No. 10 CSUN Thursday (Apr. 7) and No. 5 Long Beach State Saturday (Apr. 9). Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.
Saturday's match is not only part of the Black & Blue Rivalry series presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach, but UCI will honor its three seniors, Jason Agopian, Kyle Russell and Marty Ross prior to the match.
UCI IS IN IF: UCI can earn a ticket to the postseason with two wins this week over CSUN and LBSU, along with one CBU loss at Hawaii. UCI cannot afford to lose to CSUN, but can lose to LBSU, provided CSUN and CBU both lose twice---or---get Hawaii to beat CBU twice and win versus CSUN is in three sets or in four sets by at least 11 total points. CSUN is the only team that controls its postseason destiny as two wins would ensure its postseason appearance.
EIGHT WOULD BE GREAT: Entering the week in a three-way tie for eighth place, either UCI, CSUN or Cal Baptist will open the MPSF Tournament Saturday, Apr. 16 at the tournament's No. 1 seed.
THE MATADORS: CSUN owns a 34-29 advantage in the series records. The Matadors won 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-21) in Northridge on Feb. 17, snapping a 12-match Anteater winning streak. The last time CSUN won at the Bren Center dates back to Jan. 16, 2009.
CSUN is 13-14 overall and 6-14 in the MPSF. The Matadors are coming off 3-1 losses at Stanford and Pepperdine.
THE FORTY-NINERS: Long Beach State holds a 34-24 series lead over the Anteaters, taking down UCI 3-0 in Long Beach earlier this season. The win snapped a three-match winning streak by UCI.
Long Beach State enters the match 21-6 overall and 15-5 in the MPSF. The Beach has already clinched a quarterfinal home match, but is fighting for post-season positioning, including still obtaining the No. 1 seed.
Last week, LBSU beat Pepperdine, 3-2 and lost to Stanford, 3-1.
HOME SWEET HOME: After 10 matches on the road, UCI returns to the Bren for the first time since Mar. 4 when the Anteaters defeated UC San Diego. The Anteaters are 3-6 at home this season.
ON THE RECORD: UCI is 9-18 overall and 6-14 in the MPSF.
LAST WEEK: UCI dropped a 3-0 match at Cal Baptist, but returned to sweep USC 3-0 at the Galen Center on Sunday. Michael Saeta led UCI with eight kills and three aces versus the Lancers and 14 kills against the Trojans.
UCI hit a season-high .515 (44-10-66) in the win over USC, hitting .682 (15-0-22) in the second set without committing an error.
SAETA ON FIRE: Since moving to opposite. Michael Saeta has carried the offensive load. While he averages 1.82 kills per set overall, he has averaged 15.6 kills over the last nine matches. He has recorded kills in double-digits seven times, including a career-high 24 twice.
MORE SAETA: Saeta leads the squad and is second in the MPSF with a 0.51 ace average. He is seventh in the UCI season record book with 45 this season.
CAN YOU DIG IT: Libero Dillon Hoffman is third overall (2.26) in the MPSF in digs and is second in MPSF matches-only with a 2.31.He has recorded digs in double-figures eight times, including a career-high 19 in the final match at Hawaii.
MARTY IN THE MIDDLE: Senior Marty Ross ranks seventh in blocking (1.05) and 10th in hitting percentage (.432). In MPSF matches, Ross is fifth among conference players in hitting percentage with a .480 mark.
HERSHKO RETURNS: Tamir Hershko returned to action for two sets at USC. The junior All-American had missed the previous 18 matches with a leg injury. He recorded six kills and hit .625 (6-1-8) versus the Trojans. Overall, Hershko is averaging a team-best 4.00 kills and 4.33 points.
RUSSELL; AGOPIAN CLOSE OUT CAREERS: Seniors Kyle Russell and Jason Agopian will close out their UCI career with two national championship rings.
While coming off the bench six of the last seven matches, Russell is second on the team with a 2.90 kill average and aces with 32. He has recorded kills in double-figure 14 times this year, including 20 or more three times. Russell joins Saeta for the most kills in a match this season with 24 versus
Pepperdine.
For his career, he ranks 10th all-time in UCI aces with 81. He was named AVCA Player of the Week on Apr. 9, 2013.
Agopian currently ranks 14th in the MPSF with a .396 hitting percentage, while averaging 2.05 kills and 0.74 blocks.
He was named first-team All-MPSF and Volleyball Magazine second team All-American as a junior. The middle blocker recorded a career-high 16 kills at Ball State this year and a career-best eight block assists versus Penn State in 2015.
