‘Eaters upset UCLA

The UC Irvine men’s volleyball team upset UCLA, 21-30, 30-26,

30-18, 36-38, 17-15, Saturday night to capture the UC Santa

Barbara/Elephant Bar Tournament title.

The Anteaters, seeded No. 7, had a match point at 29-28 in the

fourth game, but watched the top-seeded Bruins come back to force a

decisive fifth game.

UCI was led by 6-foot-6 junior middle blocker Jimmy Pelzel, who

pounded a career-high 25 kills.

Kyle Weichert, a 6-7 junior middle blocker, added 16 kills for the winners, who also received 13 kills apiece from 6-3 senior outside

hitter Monte Tucker and 6-5 junior outside hitter Spencer Bemus. Nic

Vislay, a 6-4 freshman middle blocker, contributed 10 kills, while

Greg Ford, a 6-2 junior libero, led the Anteaters with 12 digs.

Anteater setter David Kniffin, a 6-2 junior, amassed 70 assists,

while Bemus fired five service aces.

The victory was a special one for first-year UCI Coach John

Speraw, who played and later coached as an assistant under legendary

UCLA head man Al Scates.

It was the second consecutive tournament crown of the young season

for UCI (5-0), which topped the field in the Millie & Severson

Tournament at Pepperdine that culminated Jan. 6.

UCI hit .409 in the match, but just .167 in the fifth game. UCLA

hit .322 to lose their first match in three outings this season.

The Bruins were led by Jonathan Acosta and Matt Shubin, who each

unloaded 14 kills. Adam Schrader had a match-high 13 digs for UCLA.

The Anteaters advanced to the title match with a 30-23, 28-30,

30-27, 27-30, 15-7 triumph over the host Gauchos, while UCLA swept

Cal State Northridge, 30-25, 30-18, 30-21 in the other semifinal.

Northridge, keyed by a match-high 59 assists by junior Ty

Tramblie, a 6-0 junior setter out of Newport Harbor High, defeated

UCSB, 30-26, 24-30, 34-32, 31-29, in the third-place match.