Losses pivotal for UCI

For those who experienced them, or even witnessed them, the five postseason victories that led to the UC Irvine men’s volleyball program’s first NCAA championship will prove unforgettable.

But after the Anteaters topped Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, 30-20, 24-30, 30-23, 30-28, in the title match Saturday at Ohio State University, a reflective UCI Coach John Speraw said some of the losses during the 2007 season should be remembered just as well.

“Somebody told me that that was win No. 99 for me [at UCI] and they said, ‘Wouldn’t you have liked to have won one more along the way, so it would have been 100?’ ” Speraw said. “I said there’s no way I would have wanted another win, because the losses we had were incredibly valuable.”

Speraw pointed to a five-game home loss to Pacific Feb. 10 and a five-game loss at UCLA April 6 as defining moments in the team’s eventual journey to the top.

“After we lost to UOP, we came back and really competed hard, including beating [the Tigers] in three [at UOP on Feb. 17],” Speraw said.

After the first loss to UOP, the Anteaters won 10 straight matches, including six sweeps, before falling in five March 31 to then-top-ranked Pepperdine in the Waves’ gym.

In it’s next match, six days later at UCLA, Speraw said his team “took it easy” against the Bruins.

“We just weren’t competing very hard, so I was pretty upset about that one,” Speraw said. “I don’t think we should have lost that match, specifically how we lost it.”

Speraw said he compiled video clips of the Feb. 17 match at Pacific and ones from the UCLA loss and showed them to his players to point out the difference in their play and their behavior on the court in the two matches.

“There was a pretty dramatic change in the way they were competing [at UOP vs. UCLA],” Speraw said. “I think it opened their eyes as to how they needed to compete together for this team to win. I think that made a big difference. I think those two losses are the reason we are [national champions].”

After the UCLA loss, the Anteaters won their final two regular-season matches against Long Beach State and UC San Diego.

They opened the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament with a come-from-behind five-game quarterfinal win over visiting Hawaii.

They then rallied to earn comeback five-game triumphs over then-No. 2-ranked BYU and top-ranked Pepperdine, in the tournament semifinals and final, respectively, at Pepperdine.

UCI finished 29-5, a school record for wins, and the most in the nation this season.

Speraw is now 99-59 in five seasons at the helm.

One constant during the postseason run was the play of 6-foot-6 senior opposite Matt Webber, who had been, at times, speratic during his career.

Webber, who was benched briefly in the postseason opener against Hawaii, wound up averaging 21 kills in five postseason matches, with a combined .337 hitting percentage.

In the Final Four, where he was named the Most Valuable Player, Webber had 41 kills in two matches and hit a combined .360.

When asked to comment on Webber’s performance after Saturday’s match, Speraw talked about his development over the entire season.

“[Webber] is an emotional player and a lot of what happens to him in a match had created some dips [in performance],” Speraw said. “So he and I have talked a lot about how to handle the dips, in order [for him] to be a special player. We had meetings in my office throughout the course of the season and we’d go through what we called the ABCs, or antecedent, behavior, consequence, a little basic psychotherapy my mom taught me.

“I’d ask Matt ‘What was the antecedent, what was the behavior you created or did, and what was the consequence that occurred as a result of that behavior.?

“So, we’d backtrack those situations and he’d kind of realize how he should frame things in his own mind — the negative things that happen throughout the course of a match.

“I think that made a profound difference for him and it showed, especially this week under pressure. He was able to avoid the dips and stay high the whole time. As a result, he had a fantastic tournament.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].