SPORTS
By Barry Faulkner | March 1, 2013
IRVINE - In a showdown of the nation's men's volleyball elite, two was certainly better than one Friday night. No. 2-ranked BYU consistently came up with more answers than top-ranked UCI, enabling the Cougars to rally for a 22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-23, 15-11 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory in front of 2,906 at the Bren Events Center. UCI (15-4, 12-4 in conference), which came in on an 11-match winning streak that began after a four-game setback at BYU on Jan. 18, handled the visitors in the opening two sets and held leads of 14-8 and 19-14 in Game 3. But the Cougars (12-3, 11-2)
SPORTS
By Barry Faulkner | February 14, 2013
IRVINE - The quickest way to solve the puzzle is to find the missing piece. The UC Irvine men's volleyball team found enough personnel pieces to complete a 20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-22 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory over visiting UC Santa Barbara on Thursday. The victory extended the Anteaters' winning streak to seven matches and solidified the No. 1 national ranking they share with BYU. UCI Coach David Kniffin substituted with purpose after the No. 15-ranked Gauchos seized the momentum in the first set. "We were prepared from the game-plan standpoint," Kniffin said.
SPORTS
By Barry Faulkner | December 31, 2012
After winning the program's third NCAA championship in six seasons in 2012, the UC Irvine men's volleyball team said goodbye to a legendary coach who some consider the best in the business, a four-time All-American who is the school's career kills leader, an All-American middle blocker, and two reserves gifted enough to start for most programs in America. Any perception of devastation, however, was quickly dispelled by UCI's first No. 1 ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches' Assn.
SPORTS
August 6, 2012
Costa Mesa resident Jake Gibb and Corona del Mar resident Sean Rosenthal, who entered the London Olympics as the top men's beach volleyball team in the world, suffered a stunning loss on Monday and were eliminated in the quarterfinals. Gibb and Rosenthal, the No. 4-seeded team, fell, 19-21, 21-18, 15-11, to the No. 17-seeded Janis Smedins and Martin Plavins from Latvia. The Americans led, 18-15, in Game 2, needing just three points to better the fifth-place finish they achieved at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
NEWS
By Barry Faulkner | May 20, 2009
Once more with perspective. UC Irvine’s second men’s volleyball national championship in three seasons was still resonating 11 days after the title match victory over USC in Provo, Utah, as an estimated 3,000 students and supporters gathered to honor the Anteaters on campus Wednesday. Coach John Speraw said adding another title to the program’s first NCAA crown in 2007 represents a landmark for his program. “Winning national championship No. 2 is incredibly significant,” Speraw said while addressing the crowd outside the student center.
NEWS
December 4, 2008
Scott Kevorken, a 6-foot-9 senior at Westlake High who helped the U.S. youth national team win a gold medal at the NORCEDA Youth Continental Championships in August, leads a list of three recruits who have signed national letters of intent to play men’s volleyball at UC Irvine, Anteaters Coach John Speraw said. Kevorken, a middle blocker, was a team MVP last season, when he earned first-team All-Marmonte League, second-team All-Ventura County and third-team All-CIF Southern Section laurels.
NEWS
August 28, 2008
Mere days after returning from Beijing, China, where as an assistant coach, John Speraw helped the United States win the men’s volleyball gold medal, Speraw will be taking his UC Irvine men’s team to Venezuela for a two-week trip, beginning today. The Anteaters will arrive in Buenos Aires today, the first stop in a three-city tour that will include three exhibition matches, followed by a tournament. The team will return home Sept. 15. “It gives us some extra days of training and it allows us to get some international experience,” Speraw said.
NEWS
By Barry Faulkner | July 30, 2008
UC Irvine men’s volleyball coach John Speraw is an assistant coach for the U.S. men’s volleyball team that will take part in the Olympics in Beijing, China, beginning Aug. 10. A former All-American middle blocker at UCLA, where he worked as an assistant coach before coming to UCI, Speraw guided the Anteaters to the program’s lone national championship in 2007. He took a few moments before leaving for China to answer a few questions about his experiences with Team USA and what lies ahead in Beijing.