Jimmy Pelzel

Steve Virgen

In a matter of four weeks, he has become the poster boy of UC

Irvine athletics. He has become the superstar of the surprise story

of the year at Anteaterland.

Jimmy Pelzel should take a bow. He should do a dance, maybe even

take a Sharpie and sign his name on a volleyball.

But, that’s not his style.

First of all, there are 16 regular-season matches remaining. But

most importantly, Pelzel won’t take all of the credit. He wants his

teammates to grab all the attention.

UCI became the top team in the nation for the first time in school

history Jan. 28. The USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches

Association poll will be released today, and the Anteaters will more

than likely remain No. 1 after rebounding from their first loss of

the season and exacting revenge with a three-game sweep over No. 2

Hawaii Saturday.

The Anteaters are 11-1, the greatest start in the program’s

history. A national volleyball magazine will soon run a story on a

day in the life of Pelzel, but if the 6-foot-6 junior opposite had

his way, the article would be about his team. If Pelzel had his

choice, there would be the Daily Pilot College Athletes of the Month

in honor of the Anteaters.

“It feels really good to get this sort of recognition, but I wish

they would focus it more on the team,” Pelzel said. “I’m nothing

without my supporting cast.

“Monte (Tucker) is probably our best all-around player. He hits.

He passes. He’s a great blocker. Russ (Marchewka), who comes off the

bench, can start at any Division I school. Jarett Jensen is a vocal

leader. Spencer Bemus has stepped up big this year. A lot of the

success should be attributed to Greg Ford. He’s probably the best

libero in the nation. David Kniffin is exactly what you want in a

setter. We’ve all clicked very well, from the coaching staff to the

players. (Coach John Speraw has) been around the game. He’s played at

this level. He knows what it’s like to win a national championship.

We’ve just been listening to him, doing what he says and following

the game plan.”

According to the game plan, Pelzel (pronounced pale-zale) has been

the leader of the Anteaters. He has been UCI’s kill leader in nine of

the 12 matches.

Pelzel is the Daily Pilot College Athlete of the Month for

January.

“Jimmy is doing a lot for us right now,” said Speraw, UCI’s

first-year coach. “He’s our best hitter in transition and our go-to

guy when we need a big side out. He has scored a ton of points with

his jump serve. He has become one of our best end blockers. We’ve

been able to do a good job with Jimmy matched up against the

opponent’s best hitter. Because of his success at the net we’ve been

able to do a good defensive job against other teams.”

Pelzel leads the team in kills (208), hitting percentage (.376)

and service aces (19). Through 45 games, he is averaging 4.62 kills

per game.

He recorded a career-high 26 kills in leading UCI to a five-game

victory over UCLA at Pauley Pavilion Jan. 17. Earlier in the week,

Pelzel posted his previous career-high of 25 kills to lead the

Anteaters to a five-game win over the Bruins. That win gave UCI the

UC Santa Barbara/Elephant Bar Tournament title.

Pelzel also guided the Anteaters to a Millie & Severson Tournament

championship at Pepperdine and earned Mountain Pacific Sports

Federation Player of the Week honors.

“We’ve been stressing to the team that we need to continue to

improve,” Speraw said. “Jimmy knows that he can get better and he’s

working very hard to get better in order to make sure that we’re not

just No. 1 in January but that we’re No. 1 at the end of the season.

We’re all going to have to get better. Jimmy is doing a good job of

continuing to work hard. He knows the job is not done.”

When Pelzel is done, he might become UCI’s all-time leader in

kills. He has 740 kills with the rest of this season and his senior

year remaining. The school record is held by Erick Helenihi, who

closed out his UCI career last season with 1,418 kills, and he’s also

the school’s all-time leader in hitting percentage at .347.

Helenihi was one of six seniors who graduated from an Anteater

squad that didn’t live up to expectations. Pelzel earned All-MPSF

honorable mention recognition last year, but he would have much

rather given back the achievement for more wins to a team that

finished 12-17, 6-16 in the MPSF.

UCI was supposed to grab headlines last season. But, the Anteaters

underachieved.

“I wish we would have done better,” Pelzel said. “We really

couldn’t pinpoint what went wrong last year. I wouldn’t blame the

coaching. It was more on the players. But, that’s a learning

experience, and it gave us motivation.”

Pelzel said the experience helped the Anteaters strive for

chemistry, which has been attained because the squad shares the

credit and spends time with each other.

“Every practice, every team session, every meal, every time spent

with them has just been great,” Pelzel said.