Don't call UCI seniors nobodies

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A panel of media voted UC Irvine senior opposite Matt Webber Most Valuable Player of the NCAA men's volleyball championship, won by the Anteaters Thursday before 4,756 spectators at Ohio State's St. John Arena Saturday.

But, as if to emphasize the team focus that has carried Coach John Speraw's squad to back-to-back Final Four appearances, Webber almost refused to accept credit.

"The MVP doesn't really mean much, because we were a team and we played as a team the whole way through," said the 6-foot-6 second-team All-American, who had a team-best 22 kills in 35 attempts, with only six errors, to record an impressive .457 hitting percentage.

"For one person to be singled out, it doesn't make sense. I mean, these guys here right beside me [fellow seniors Jayson Jablonsky, Brian Thornton and David Smith at a post-match press conference], we're a bunch of nobodies if we don't play well together. I mean, I wouldn't have been MVP if Thornton wasn't flowing me balls and Jablonsky wasn't passing those balls and Smith wasn't blocking those balls.

"To get MVP is a big honor and I share it with the rest of the team."

SENIORS LEAVE LEGACY

Webber shared a lot with his fellow seniors, who in addition to accomplishing their ultimate goal of winning a national championship, left their indelible mark on the program, as well as the school record book.

Jablonsky, a lightly recruited 6-foot-5 outside hitter out of Esperanza High in Yorba Linda, was the National and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year as a junior.

This season, he earned second-team All-American honors and was a second-team All-MPSF performer.

Jablonsky finished with 1,528 career kills, ranking No. 2 in UCI annals, and his 128 service aces rank No. 1.

Webber, who was planning to go to the Coast Guard Academy, before UCI coaches spotted him in a club tournament the summer after his high school graduation and offered him a scholarship, was a consistently potent hitter.

A 6-6 left-hander, he amassed 1,382 kills, finishing No. 4 on the school's all-time list. His 47 service aces this season set a school record and his 107 career aces are topped only by Jablonsky on the Anteaters' all-time list.

Webber earned second-team All-American plaudits as a senior, after being named first-team All-American as a junior. He was first-team All-MPSF as a junior and second-team all-conference this season.