UCI rallies past USC

IRVINE — While the uniformed occupants of the USC bench hooted and cavorted, leaped, cajoled and hugged after seemingly every Trojans point, the more reserved players on the UC Irvine sideline were saving their energy for more important pursuits.

As it turned out, the contributions of reserves Taylor Wilson and Cole Reinholm were all crucial to the Anteaters’ come-from-behind, 24-30, 30-26, 21-30, 30-25, 15-9 victory in the play-in match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament Wednesday at UCI’s Crawford Court.

“A couple of our guys noticed it [the frequent bench celebrations executed by the USC reserves], and they made comments about it,” said Wilson, who said he barely gave it any thought.

Instead, Wilson, a junior outside hitter, remained focused on how he could help, if given the chance. That chance came with Game 2 tied, 18-18.

Wilson’s first act quickly helped subdue the visitors, as he laced a jump-serve ace. His next serve forced an overpass that senior middle blocker Aaron Harrell put away for a 20-18 advantage. The No. 8-ranked Anteaters, seeded seventh in the eight-team MPSF Tournament, pulled away to claim Game 2.

UCI (16-14), the defending NCAA and MPSF Tournament champion, also prevailed in Games 4 and 5 to earn its eighth straight win over the No. 11-ranked and No. 8-seeded Trojans (13-16). It was UCI’s third win over USC this season.

The victory, UCI’s second in seven five-game matches this season, propels Coach John Speraw’s squad to Saturday’s tournament quarterfinal, at regular-season conference co-champion BYU.

The Anteaters nearly upset the then-top-ranked Cougars before dropping the fifth game, 28-26, in their first meeting, Feb. 15 at the Bren Events Center. BYU (23-4), now ranked No. 3, won in four games the following day.

Wilson, a starter last season who has been plagued by an ankle injury all season, collected 10 kills and four of his team’s six aces to help prevent USC from celebrating further on its bus ride home. Wilson also had four block assists and three digs.

“I put him in as a serving sub, but he looked pretty good, so I left him in,” Speraw said of Wilson.

“[Wilson] was serving great, so that helped us right away,” said freshman outside hitter Cory Yoder, who led UCI with 17 kills. “And he’s an older guy, with a lot of experience, so we feel pretty comfortable with him out there. Even when he comes straight off the bench, he’s pretty automatic.”

Reinholm, a sophomore inserted at opposite for UCI’s season kills leader Jon Steller late in the opening game, went on to post 12 kills and record one ace. He added two block assists and one dig.

Their play helped support a strong match by Yoder, who mixed in deft roll shots and tips with his booming arm swings to finish with a team-best .517 hitting percentage in a team-high 29 total attacks.

It’s Yoder’s third strong match this season against USC, where his father, Bob, both played and coached on national championship teams.

Harrell and freshman middle Kevin Wynne each had seven kills and both hit .455, while Harrell led the winners with two solo blocks and seven block assists. Wynne had one solo block and five assists.

Freshman setter Anthony Spittle collected 61 assists, 10 digs and three block assists, while junior libero Brent Asuka had nine digs.

Steller, reinserted early in Game 4, after USC had pounded the hosts in Game 3, finished with eight kills and one ace, though he hit just .125 for the match.

Speraw said the key was rebounding after a dismal Game 3. The 21 points scored by UCI in that game matched the fewest of any game this season. The ’Eaters lost Game 1 against Stanford, 30-21, in a five-game tournament setback on Jan. 4.

“The thing that’s most notable to me is, to lose, 30-21, in Game 3 and to come back and win that match was pretty remarkable,” Speraw said.

“There were times when [The Trojans] got really hot in Game 1 and Game 2 and when that happens, you generate a ton of momentum. And we were pretty bummed out after Game 3. But in that three-minute break [before Game 4], we were able to regroup. Then to beat them in Game 4 and beat them, 15-9, the rest of the way shows a tremendous amount of poise and confidence by our players.

“We weren’t playing very smoothly and we didn’t play very smoothly last weekend [a regular-season-ending loss at Stanford], so things weren’t looking very good,” Speraw said. “So to come back and win I think is a tremendous achievement.”

USC was paced by senior outside hitter Juan Figueroa (22 kills), as well as freshman Murphy Troy (16 kills).

The Trojans’ bench decorum obviously left a bitter taste in Speraw’s mouth.

“All I want to say is that we will never do that at UC Irvine,” Speraw said emphatically.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.