UCI gains MPSF berth

The UC Irvine men’s volleyball team, behind 30 kills from junior

outside hitter Jimmy Pelzel defeated Pacific, 36-34, 27-30, 30-24,

30-20 in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at Crawford Hall

Friday.

The win secures a berth into the MPSF tournament for the

Anteaters. It will be the third MPSF tournament appearance for UCI,

which improved to 19-9, 12-9 in MPSF play. The 12 league wins sets a

school record for most conference wins in a season, surpassing the

11-9 record of 1999.

UCI led 20-16 in game one, but two kills from Tim Jenson and a

hitting error by the Anteaters brought UOP back to 20-19. The teams

traded points, until a Nic Vislay kill gave UCI match point, 29-27. A

kill by Aaron Wachtfogel and another UCI hitting error knotted the

score at 29-29. The teams once again ping-ponged back and forth until

Vislay pounded another kill at 35-34. A Wachtfogel hitting error

ended the game, giving UCI a 36-34 win.

With the scored tied at 27-27 in game two, a UOP hitting error and

a David Kniffin service ace gave the Anteaters match point.

Wachtfogel again had the burden of a hitting error on game point, as

UCI took the second set 30-27.

The Anteaters were led by Pelzel, who had a .522 hitting

percentage and a match-high six blocks. UCI will close out the

regular season, hosting Stanford tonight.