Despite loss, UCI raised expectations

UNIVERSITY PARK, Penn. ? The most remarkable turnaround in NCAA men’s volleyball history ultimately produced disappointment for the UC Irvine Anteaters.

A 32-30, 30-23, 31-33, 27-30, 15-13 loss to Penn State in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship Thursday at the Nittany Lions’ Rec Hall seemed to leave UCI players and coaches realizing how far they needed to go, rather than how far they had come.

“To go out like that was rough,” said junior second-team All-American opposite Matt Webber, who tied American Volleyball Coaches’ Assn. National Player of the Year Jayson Jablonsky with a team-high 20 kills, but hit a sub-par .244 and had seven of the Anteaters’ season-high 25 service errors.

Perhaps the team’s most emotional player, Webber screamed into his jersey, the collar of which he had pulled over his mouth, after Penn State ended its nine-match semifinal losing streak with its seventh ace of the night.

“That was anger,” Webber said of his verbal outburst. “I know that I tried my best and I understand it is a team sport. But I think I could have done a lot more than what I did [Thursday]. Playing with the best guys that I could play with, and you go out like that, it’s rough. We definitely deserved better.”

With just one senior (undersized outside hitter Paul Spittle) in one of the shortest starting lineups in the country and with only one new starter (freshman libero Brent Asuka) on the heels of a 9-20 campaign in 2005, many believed UCI’s school-record 27 wins were more than anyone could have expected.

The Anteaters, ranked No. 1 the final eight weekly national polls, opened the season 5-1. They then lost two of their next three, including a three-game setback at Hawaii on Jan. 27, two days after sweeping the Warriors on their home court.

What followed were 21 straight victories to close the regular season. Included in that stretch was a whirlwind week in early March in which the ‘Eaters defeated Loyola of Chicago (the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. regular-season champion), Penn State (the Eastern International Volleyball Assn. tournament champion), and swept BYU, then ranked No. 1, in back-to-back five-gamers. The BYU sweep featured a notable comeback from 0-2 in the first match at the Bren Events Center.

The Anteaters’ Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season title was the first in the program’s history, as was their appearance in the four-team NCAA Championship, for which they earned the lone at-large berth and the No. 1 seed.

Jablonsky (also the MPSF Player of the Year), Asuka (both the national and MPSF Newcomer of the Year), Webber (also second-team all-conference), junior setter Brian Thornton (second-team All-American and All-MPSF), and sophomore middle blocker Aaron Harrell (third-team All-MPSF), earned individual honors.

Speraw, in his fourth season, was named MPSF Coach of the Year.

But while the regular-season crown gave UCI a bye in the MPSF tournament semifinals, it also created a 12-day layoff, until the ‘Eaters were swept by Long Beach State on April 27 at the Bren Center.

When they took the court Thursday against Penn State, which was buoyed by all but about 100 of the 3,430 in attendance, UCI had played just one match in 19 days.

Thursday’s loss ended the collegiate careers of Spittle, whom Speraw said was perhaps the best team leader he has ever been around, and Steffin Rangel, who played the last half of the NCAA semifinal and helped UCI extend the Nittany Lions to five games.

So, there is great optimism for the future.

“I was curious to see how far we could go this year,” said Speraw, whose team ? had it come all the way back on Thursday ? would have been only the second in the history of the tournament, the first since San Diego State in 1972, to win a semifinal after losing the first two games. “I thought we could win it all.

“But I knew that we were a program that hadn’t been here before and these guys hadn’t been here. I was optimistic about how far we could go to accumulate the experiences necessary for us to be great. I wondered if we could make the playoffs, then win the first round. Then, obviously we won the whole conference, so we got a bye into the semis. Then, could we get to a final, then could we get to a Final Four? At each point, as a group, we accumulated experience, including myself, who had never been [to the NCAA Championship] as a head coach. And I think we went about as far as we could go in accumulating experiences in one year.

“The reality is, we were 9-20 last year. We finished up the year with 27 wins. I think it’s a remarkable turnaround and we should be proud of that.”

Asuka was asked to look to the future after Thursday’s loss.

“We feel bad that we lost; it’s disappointing,” Asuka said. “But we’re gaining experience and like [reporters] said, we’re not losing a lot. So, we’re just going to keep on working this offseason and, hopefully, come back and have a better year next year.”dpt-uciwrap07.IMGGraphicInfoHE1QN70B20060507HE1QN70BNo Captiondpt.07-uci-1-BPhotoInfo201QN6TQ20060507iyf1bnncKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Opposite hitter Matt Webber, right, was a key figure on UC Irvine’s national semifinalist team this season. The Anteaters should return all but two of their players next year. dpt.07-uci-2-BPhotoInfo201QN6VK20060507ivzxs0knKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)AVCA National Player of the Year Jayson Jablonsky is one of five starters expected to return for the Anteaters next season.