Speraw’s Anteaters a surprise

colleges columnBeating an Al Scates-coached UCLA men’s volleyball team will always be a big deal. Contributing to three NCAA championships himself -- two as a player and one as an assistant to the legendary Bruins Coach, who has 18 national titles -- John Speraw helped insure as much.

Speraw, in his fourth season as the coach at UC Irvine, guided the No. 9-ranked Anteaters to a 32-30, 30-28, 30-24 sweep of the No. 2-ranked Bruins before a capacity crowd of 865 Friday at UCI’s Crawford Court.

Speraw said he loved the atmosphere that surrounded his first home win over his alma mater, as well as the accompanying congratulatory whirlwind that consumed him and his players throughout the weekend. But Speraw said he is driven to diminish the significance of such victories in the future.

“I was at a big tournament recruiting [Saturday and Sunday] and everyone in the gym was coming up to me and congratulating me [on the UCLA win],” Speraw said. “I appreciate the support, no question. But part of me wishes it would be expected. I want to get to the point where we should be on of the best teams in the [Mountain Pacific Sports Federation].”

Expectations at UCI spiked in Speraw’s first year in 2003, when a January win over UCLA at Pauley Pavilion propelled the Anteaters to the No. 1 ranking, a first for the school.

UCI was eliminated in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament by Stanford and finished 20-11, ranked No. 5.

UCI went 14-18 in 2004 and, with no seniors and only two juniors, the Anteaters were 9-20 last season.

Speraw said he is both excited and cautiously optimistic about this season.

“I’m excited because I don’t feel like we’re playing our best volleyball right now,” Speraw said. “We had the best fall season I’ve had here, beating Penn State and Long Beach State. I was a little worried that we might peak too early. But, after beating a team like UCLA and, having watched the tape, It has got me thinking about how much further we could go [in the postseason].”

* The Anteaters are 3-1, 1-0 in the MPSF, entering Wednesday’s conference clash at USC. Matt Webber, a 6-foot-5 junior outside hitter, leads the ‘Eaters with 67 kills, followed by 6-5 junior outside hitter Jayson Jablonsky (59).

Jablonsky, named second-team All-American by ASICS/Volleyball Magazine and second-team All-MPSF as a sophomore, leads the teams in digs (31) and aces (14).

Junior setter Brian Thornton is averaging 12.5 assists per game while 6-5 sophomore middle blocker Aaron Harrell and 6-7 junior middle David Smith have 33 kills apiece.

Harrell and Webber lead the team with 15 blocks and Smith has 12.

* Speraw said senior Paul Spittle was the key to the UCLA win and he also praised the play of libero Brent Asuka, a freshman from Hawaii who has 27 digs.

“Webber has been excellent for us in every match and we certainly rode him [against UCLA],” Speraw said. “But Jablonsky was struggling a little and Paul gave us some offense.”

* Speraw said Asuka has been a pleasant surprise.

“I recruited him off word of mouth from a coach I trust in Hawaii,” Speraw said. “[The coach] told me about him and sent me some tape. I watched more tape on that kid than any other I’ve recruited, but no one ever served him, so I had absolutely no idea how good he was. He has really made a name for himself within the team because he started digging everything in practice. But he has really improved his passing in the last few months.”

* The UCI men’s basketball team will try to preserve its Big West Conference lead by playing five of its next six games on the road, beginning Thursday at UC Riverside.

Pacific Coach Bob Thomason, whose Tigers fell to the Anteaters Sunday, said he was not surprised by UCI’s early success.

“They have their confidence back,” said Thomason, who played with UCI Coach Pat Douglass at Pacific and is Douglass’ best friend. “I thought before the season they would be in the top three [in the Big West].”

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