High five for Speraw, UCI

IRVINE — In this his fifth season as the UC Irvine men’s volleyball coach, John Speraw has won 78 matches and elevated the Anteaters to the top-ranked program in America.

But Saturday against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation visitor UC Santa Barbara, Speraw and the Anteaters found victory where they had never found it before: bouncing back after losing the first two games.

Stepping up in all phases, UCI rallied past the No. 6-ranked Gauchos, 25-30, 28-30, 30-22, 30-25, 15-10, to improve to 8-0, 4-0 in the MPSF.

Senior outside hitter Jayson Jablonsky, the reigning NCAA Player of the Year, had a career-high 28 kills and senior Matt Webber added 21 to help propel the Anteaters to their most hard-fought triumph of the season, at the Bren Events Center.

“That’s the first time that’s ever happened, since I’ve been here,” Speraw said. “I think it’s big for us to have the belief that no matter what the situation is, we can play well and come back and win. I think we can look back on this and know that no matter what circumstances occur, we know what we can do.”

Speraw said the early deficit was less about what his team was doing than the early execution by the Gauchos (5-2, 3-1).

“To be honest, I thought Santa Barbara played phenomenal volleyball in the first two games,” Speraw said. “[The Gauchos] were passing dimes, and not making any hitting errors, and [6-8 senior opposite Evan Patak] was on fire. I think there were some things we could have done better, defensively. In the first game, we didn’t have a single stuff block and they were hitting [.562].

“They’re one of the best teams in America. I knew we would have a battle. I’ve been singing Santa Barbara’s praises since the end of last year. I knew they’d be good. I don’t think my team needed convincing, but I was not shocked they got off to a fast start. And [the Gauchos] are a team that believes they can win, because they were down, 0-2, twice in the last three matches and came back and won twice in five [over Pacific and an upset of No. 3-ranked UCLA Wednesday].

“When you play a great team, the difference between wins and losses is very subtle. We got better and they didn’t stay at that level, and that combination allowed us to get back in the match.”

In a tide of subtle change, the Anteaters’ managed tsunami-like momentum builders in Game 3.

Patak, who led the nation last season with 5.9 kills per game and entered this week with a national-best 5.8 per game, was thwarted twice on solo blocks by UCI middle blockers Aaron Harrell and David Smith.

Harrell’s block gave UCI a 13-9 lead and Smith’s roof job made it an 18-12 advantage. On both occasions, the partisan home crowd of 745 erupted.

“Well, getting your opportunities to stop Evan Patak are few and far between and worth celebrating,” Speraw said. “Certainly everybody knows that, including the people in the stands. I think he’s a great player and if you have a chance to slow him down, it’s great. We didn’t do much of that tonight, but I don’t think very many people across America are going to do that a lot the rest of the year.”

Patak, the most recent MPSF Player of the Week, blasted 36 kills and hit .462 Saturday. Some of his assaults were straight down, the kind that generated a second of silence, followed by ominous groans from the UCI rooters.

“You just have to understand that he’s a big dude and he’s going to get his kills,” Jablonsky said of Patak. “He can bounce the ball and it’s only one point. A tip is worth one point, the same as hitting it straight down. You just have to understand that and keep playing hard.”

The Anteaters, who had swept their last six opponents, and earned their other previous victory this season in four games, kept swinging, and digging, and blocking, against the Gauchos.

Jablonsky had eight kills to key the Game 3 victory, then pounded four in each of the next two games.

Webber, who finished with 21 kills and hit .439, had five kills in Game 3 and his emotion helped stoke the home crowd throughout.

“I thought Jablonsky and Webber played well even in the first two games,” said Speraw, who had specific praise for Jablonsky’s passing, even against the powerful jump serves of Patak.

“When they served Jablonsky, he passed a ball we could set,” Speraw said.

Passing was a problem early for the Anteaters, which led to Speraw benching sophomore All-American libero Brent Asuka after he had just two digs the first two games.

Sophomore Nick Spittle took over at libero and collected seven digs, topped only on his team by Jablonsky and Webber (11 apiece), as well as eight by sophomore outside hitter Taylor Wilson.

Wilson chipped in 18 kills, while Smith had 13 kills, three total blocks and one ace serve, and Harrell added nine kills and four block assists.

Senior setter Brian Thornton amassed a match-high 74 assists, despite giving way at brief intervals to 6-8 sophomore Ryan Ammerman (nine assists, one kill and one ace).

UCI hit .484 as a team, to .400 for Santa Barbara.

Two Wilson kills and a stuff block by Smith helped UCI erase a 20-18 deficit in Game 4, which ended on a Webber kill to force the decisive fifth game.

Four Jablonsky kills helped expand a 7-5 UCI lead to 12-8 in Game 5, and kills by Webber, Wilson and Smith closed it out.

“I knew it would happen and I thought we could do it tonight,” Speraw said of his first successful rally after losing the first two games.