Speraw has ‘Eaters off to best start

On the wall in John Speraw’s office there’s a picture of Speraw

sitting between two UCLA coaching legends. Speraw, the first-year UC

Irvine men’s volleyball coach who has helped revitalize the

Anteaters, has former basketball coach John Wooden to his right and

current volleyball head man Al Scates to his left.

That’s 28 national championships (Scates with 18 and Wooden with

10) and ultimate examples of leadership, success and love for the

game. If a picture says a thousand words, we’ll see what Speraw’s

picture has to say 10, 20 years from now.

On July 9, Speraw began his quest of emulating the great ones.

Just before the men’s volleyball season started he told The Daily

Pilot the Anteaters would surprise people this season. Then, the

success came, results that came from Speraw’s work, the squad’s

efforts and the foundation set by former coach Charlie Brande, who is

UCI’s Director of volleyball and the head coach of the women’s

volleyball team.

UCI has started its season with six straight wins, the best start

in the program’s history. They are ranked second in the season’s

first USA Today/AVCA Men’s Coaches Top 15 poll, the program’s highest

ranking ever.

UCI, which has won two tournament titles this season, has defeated

ranked teams this season, including UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and

Pepperdine.

The Anteaters entered Friday night’s match ranked No. 2 and took

down No. 3 UCLA for the second time this season in front of 1,013 at

Pauley Pavilion, where Speraw used to play. Speraw played at UCLA in

the early ‘90s and helped lead the Bruins to two national

championships. He was also an assistant coach for UCLA the past four

years.

“We showed our composure,” Speraw said in a telephone interview

after the match. “It was a nice thing to see as a coach because we

were a little off but sometimes you’re off and it’s how you react

that makes the difference. A team is not defined by how they play

when everything is going well. They’re defined by how they handle

adversity. We did a good job of doing that (Friday night).”

UCLA earned match point in the fifth game Friday, but UCI answered

by scoring the following three points to grab the victory.

“We are playing some exciting volleyball,” Speraw said.

UCI junior Jimmy Pelzel recorded a match-high and career-high 26

kills. Pelzel amassed 25 kills in UCI’s five-game victory over the

Bruins last week. He also had 13 kills against Santa Barbara on his

way to earning Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week

honors.

The Anteaters will play their first home match of the season

Tuesday at 7 p.m., against Cal Baptist at Crawford Hall. UCI’s next

six matches are at home, including back-to-back dealings with

top-ranked Hawaii, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

Before Speraw came to UCI he was a full-time assistant coach at

UCLA for the past four years, including the 2000 season when the

Bruins captured the NCAA championship. After the fourth year, Speraw

realized it was time for him to move on.

“I was really ready to become a head coach,” he said. “I felt as

an assistant my learning curve was starting to diminish. I was coming

to the point where I was becoming as good as an assistant coach as I

was going to be. That was somewhat frustrating to me. I was ready for

more responsibility. I was ready to not just put together the game

plan but implement it, to go out there and make mistakes and learn.

I’m really eager for that.”

Speraw, 31, also played middle blocker for the Bruins from 1990-95

and was a member of two national championship teams (’93 and ‘95). He

graduated from UCLA in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in

microbiology and molecular genetics. UCI’s reputation for high

academic standards drew Speraw to the Anteaters’ coaching job.

“It’s very important for me to work with intelligent athletes,”

Speraw said. “I went to UCLA. I coached and played with very bright

athletes. I’m used to working with athletes who want to know why

we’re doing what we’re doing and want to have an intellectual base

for what we’re doing on the volleyball court. I want to have players

who are academically motivated, who want to go out and do more than

just play volleyball and have goals beyond that. I want to encourage

that.”

Speraw coached the USA Junior National Team this past summer. He

also served as an assistant for the Youth National Team (1998 and

2001), the World University Games Team (1997 and 1999) and the Pan

American Games Team (1999).

Charlie Brande was at Pauley Pavilion Friday night to watch his

former team. He was pleased, to say the least, and said the Anteaters

had better overall talent than the Bruins. UCI was not all about

Pelzel. David Kniffin amassed 50 assists and Greg Ford contributed 18

digs. Junior Spencer Bemus posted 15 kills and senior Monte Tucker

finished with 12 to help the Anteaters rally from a 2-1 deficit in

games.

“I’m so excited for those guys,” Brande said Saturday. “When you

coach and work with those people getting to the point when you see

the results, that is just great. John is a fabulous coach.”

Brande said he was not too surprised of the Anteaters’ start. He

pointed out the ‘Eaters’ ability to win the close games is what has

set the apart from the better teams in the nation.

UCI’s success this season is all the more sweeter to Brande. He

remembers the first season when he started out with the Anteaters

five years ago. UCI finished 4-19. But, Brande said the Anteaters are

much better now and with the addition of Speraw they are, “a viable

candidate for a men’s national championship.”

If you’re wondering what happened to Len Stevens, he’s doing just

fine. Stevens, who resigned as an assistant men’s basketball coach

Jan. 1, stopped coaching because he said it was just time for him to

resign.

“It’s been a great ride, a lot of fun,” Stevens said of his time

at UCI. “I’m just doing some odds and ends, traveling, you know, live

the good life.”

Stevens also spends his time golfing. He said he watched UCI’s

overtime win over Utah State Wednesday. He enjoyed seeing Mike Hood

hit the game-winning shot.

“That was great to see because that’s a memory that’s going to be

with him forever,” Stevens said.

Stevens said he does not see himself coming back to coaching and

it’s possible he and his wife will move to Nevada in the coming

months.

The Vanguard University women’s basketball team continues to defy

preseason prognosticators. The Lions, who were ranked ninth in the

Golden State Athletic Conference Coaches preseason poll, defeated

host Point Loma Nazarene, ranked No. 22 in the NAIA, 67-56, Tuesday.

Vanguard is ranked 21st in the NAIA.