Men’s Volleyball: ‘Eaters a tall order

With three front-line starters averaging 6-foot-9, including 7-0 blue-chip freshman middle blocker Scott Stadick, the UC Irvine men’s volleyball team presents an imposing skyline for opposing hitters.

But in this early stage of the season, it’s still growth potential that has Anteaters Coach David Kniffin most enthused about his squad.

No. 8-ranked UCI improved to 2-0 with a 25-19, 25-20, 23-25, 25-11 nonconference victory over Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne on Tuesday at the Bren Events Center.

Stadick, considered by many the top recruit in the nation out of Watertown, Wisc., had eight block assists to lead the hosts to a 12-9 advantage in team blocks. Stadick also had six of his eigth digs in the opening set and added six kills on 13 swings to post a .308 hitting percentage.

Matthew Younggren, a 6-8 freshman from San Diego, had seven kills on nine swings (.778) and 6-8 sophomore opposite Karl Apfelbach led the winners with 10 kills, while adding four block assists.

“We went big tonight and we were very stable from a blocking standpoint,” said UCI senior setter Michael Saeta, who had 32 assists, a match-high five aces, and four block assists. “That really helped our defense.”

UCI’s ability to take away hitting lanes helped limit IPFW to a .094 hitting rate. Only Pelegrin Vargas posted double-digit kills (10) for the Mastodons, and that was in 34 attempts that included 10 errors for a .000 hitting percentage.

“We’re big,” Kniffin said. “But the volleyball still needs to improve significantly for us to compete with those top four teams. But I think size-wise, we’ll be able to match up with at least three of those teams.”

UCI proved to be too much for the Mastodons (0-1), whom in their last meeting, the ‘Eaters defeated in the 2007 NCAA title match at Ohio State to claim the program’s first of four national championships.

Thomas Hodges, a 6-4 senior outside hitter, had nine kills, hit .350 and added six digs for UCI, which received eight kills from 6-6 senior outside hitter Tamir Hershko and five kills on seven swings from sophomore reserve David Parker.

Junior libero Dillon Hoffman led the ‘Eaters with 14 digs.

Perhaps the turning point came in the second set, when UCI erased an 18-15 deficit and closed out the set with a Stadick solo block.

“I appreciated our composure,” Kniffin said. “We have some seniors on the court, but also some new guys, who when we get pressed by a team, we don’t really know how they’re going to respond.”

UCI responded from a third-set loss by dominating the fourth game to conclude the match. The Anteaters hit .500 in the final set, while holding the visitors to a negative .200 hitting rate.

UCI plays host to UC San Diego to open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Thursday at Crawford Court, and closes a busy week against visiting Grand Canyon on Friday at the Bren Center.

“All we’re focusing on now is continuing to get better and more confident,” Saeta said.