Anteaters’ Taylor earns Player of the Week nod

UC Irvine junior opposite Taylor Wilson swept the men’s volleyball honors this week, earning Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches’ Assn. Division I-II as well as Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week laurels.

The 6-foot-7 Wilson led his team to two road wins over nationally-ranked opponents last week, including an upset of then-No. 2 Pepperdine.

In the Anteaters’ 33-31, 30-21, 27-30, 30-27 defeat of the Waves in an MPSF road match Wednesday, Wilson had a career-high 24 kills in 47 attempts and only eight errors for a .340 hitting percentage. He also had four digs and three total blocks for the then-No. 10-ranked Anteaters.

In Friday’s 30-28, 30-26, 27-30, 30-24 MPSF win at No. 11-ranked USC, Wilson recorded 19 kills, five digs and three total blocks.

For the week, Wilson averaged 5.38 kills, 1.12 digs and 6.13 points per game.

It is Wilson first national honor and the first for an Anteater player this year. He is the eighth UCI player to have earned the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II Men’s National Player of the Week honor.

The ninth-ranked Anteaters (5-5, 3-3) will play host to UC Santa Cruz in a nonconference match tonight at 7, before traveling to No. 4 UCLA Friday for a 7 p.m.

— From staff reports