Despite the loss, which ends a 23-match win streak, the team is still headed to the NCAA championship as the wild card team.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
The nation’s top two collegiate men’s volleyball teams clashed Saturday night at Pepperdine University’s Firestone Fieldhouse for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship, and the match lived up to the hype as No. 2 UC Irvine came from behind to defeat No. 1 Pepperdine, 3-2 (27-30, 24-30, 30-28, 30-28, 16-14).
The victory earned the Anteaters (27-5) an automatic berth into the NCAA championship. But the Waves (26-2) learned the next day that they will be joining them in Columbus, Ohio as Pepperdine received the expected at-large invitation. The two squads could meet again this coming Saturday in the final match of the four-team tournament, with the national title on the line.
Pepperdine dominated the early portion of the match, winning the first two games in spectacular fashion. Although the third game was close, it appeared late in the contest that the Waves would win and complete a three-game sweep. But the Anteaters battled from behind to escape elimination and won a narrow two-point victory.
Game four was also a close thriller as the more than 2,500 fans in attendance, most of them Waves fans, cheered the contesting volleyball elite. Once again, UC Irvine managed a two-point win, sending the match into a decisive fifth game.
Pepperdine came out strong in the final game, taking a 4-1 lead. But that was followed by three consecutive errors by the Waves, which allowed the Anteaters to tie the game. The game remained close the rest of the way, with Pepperdine twice taking a two-point lead. But UC Irvine rallied to grab a 14-13 lead. Needing at least 15 points and a two-point lead to win the game, the Anteaters went for the final kill. But Pepperdine fended off the attack and tied the score at 14 apiece, keeping the game alive. However, the Anteaters scored two more times and claimed the victory.
Pepperdine head coach Marv Dunphy said after the match that the Waves played hard, but UC Irvine played even harder.
“I thought we made more errors, as the match wore on, than we should have,” Dunphy said. “But [saying] anything like that takes away from [recognizing] Irvine’s good play.”
Pepperdine junior setter Jonathan Winder, the MPSF Player of the Year, spoke highly of the opponents.
“They just made some plays that were able to beat us… They’re a really good team,” Winder said. “So you make one error and they jump all over you.”
The loss snaps Pepperdine’s 23-match winning streak, which included two previous wins over UC Irvine. When asked about the significance of the streak ending just before the NCAA championship, Dunphy said it didn’t mean much.
“I think streaks are really for the people on the outside looking in,” Dunphy said. “I guess if I had a dollar for everyone who asked me that question, I’d have a few hundred dollars. But also if they ask me what the streak is, I have no clue.”
The coach added, “We wanted to win. It’s simple as that. I’m sure they did too. We go one match at a time. We’ve been pretty good at home this year and really good on the road. Both teams take something from this and go onto the national championship.”
Pepperdine, which received the top seed in the national tournament, will meet fourth-seeded Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne (22-7) on Thursday at 2 p.m. in the first match of the semifinals. The Mastodons received their tournament bid after upsetting Ohio State in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association championship match on Saturday. Dunphy admitted that he did not know much about IPFW or Penn State (22-7), the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association champion that will play UC Irvine in the other semifinal match.
“We’ll spend the next few days learning as much as we can,” Dunphy said. “We know the quality [of the teams], it’s just we don’t know the tactics and systems as well as we need to.”
Pepperdine is trying to win its sixth national title, with its last win coming in 2005. Penn State won the championship in 1994. UC Irvine and IPFW have never won the national crown.
The winners of Thursday’s matches will face each other in the title match on Saturday at 4 p.m. The entire NCAA championship will be broadcast live on ESPN2