Pepperdine

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL UC Irvine def. Pepperdine MALIBU — Anteaters junior opposite Carson Clark led all players with 12 kills and six digs as No. 7-ranked UCI posted the 25-19, 25-17, 25-19 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory Thursday on the road. Senior outside Cody Yoder had 11 kills and no attack errors for UCI (12-9, 9-6 in MPSF). Senior outside Jordan DuFault had eight kills and senior setter Anthony Spittle had 36 assists, four blocks and four digs. Maurice Torres and Sean Pedersen led No. 11 Pepperdine (6-10, 4-10)

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL UC Irvine def. Pepperdine IRVINE — Junior Carson Clark had a career-high 35 kills and senior teammate Cory Yoder had a career-high 21 to pace the Anteaters to a 25-18, 27-29, 23-25, 25-20, 21-19 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation home win Friday. Clark hit .566 for No. 7-ranked UCI (4-4, 2-2 in conference) and also had a team-best three aces. Yoder hit .500 as the 'Eaters hit .489 as a team. UCI senior Anthony Spittle had a season-high 52 assists.

MALIBU - Freshman lefthander Glenn Swanson handuffed host Pepperdine on two hits, striking out five and walking one as he led the UC Irvine Anteaters to an 8-2 nonconference baseball victory. The Anteaters (9-9) struck for three runs in the first inning and never trailed, adding single tallies in the fourth and fifth to stretch the lead to 5-1, then iced it in the eight with three more as they wasted six Pepperdine pitchers with a 13-hit attack. First baseman Matt Anderson was 4-for-5 and scored twice, catcher Chris Miller, with his sixth double of the season, was 2-for-43 with an RBI and two runs scored; and second baseman Effren Trejo was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.

MALIBU — Coach John Speraw knew his No. 2-ranked UC Irvine men’s volleyball team would be under pressure on the road against No. 3-ranked Pepperdine Friday night. As it turned out, however, the Anteaters wound up Down Under. Pepperdine senior opposite John Carroll, a 6-foot-8 two-time first-team All-American from Australia, produced a season-high 37 kills. That helped the Waves prevail, 27-30, 30-27, 39-37, 30-26, in a showdown for first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

For Barry Faulkner's blog, click here. IRVINE — With typically the tallest lineup in the country, the Pepperdine men’s volleyball program presents such a daunting physical challenge, it usually prevents teams from rising to the occasion in an initial meeting. But No. 2-ranked UC Irvine, which fell in four games at Malibu on Feb. 20, stepped up in the rematch, Saturday, before a season-best home crowd of 2,587, at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters’ 31-29, 30-24, 30-22 thumping of the top-ranked Waves created a tie for first place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation between the two with two regular-season matches remaining.

IRVINE — Sophomore Eric Wise had a season-high 23 points to pace UC Irvine to a 74-61 nonconference home win Monday over Pepperdine. Wise added six rebounds, three assists and three steals to help the Anteaters snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 6-5. Senior guard Michael Hunter had 16 points, junior guard Darren Moore added 14 and senior center Zack Atkinson contributed eight points and eight rebounds for the winners....

MALIBU — UC Irvine men’s volleyball coach John Speraw, who is in his sixth season, recorded his 100th career win as the 10th-ranked Anteaters upset No. 2-ranked Pepperdine Wednesday. The Anteaters handed the Waves their first loss of the season, 33-31, 30-21, 27-30, 30-27, in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action at Firestone Fieldhouse. Speraw is 100-59. UCI (4-5, 2-3 in conference) trailed, 17-12, in the first game, but fought back for the win. The Anteaters capitalized on a Pepperdine service error, as Aaron Harrell scored a game-tying kill to make it, 29-29.

LOS ANGELES - The novelty of a left-handed second baseman in the UC Irvine lineup was the talk of the Dodger Stadium press box Tuesday afternoon. But, unfortunately for the Anteaters, there was much more familiarity to the offensive struggles that continued in a 3-2 nonconference baseball loss to Pepperdine in the Dodgertown Classic. The Anteaters (8-7) managed three hits, tying a season-low, and have now scored two or fewer runs six times, all losses, this season. "We know what we are on offense," said UCI Coach Mike Gillespie, who has fashioned a Hall of Fame career and nearly 950 Division I wins by getting his teams to execute effectively enough to cull victories out of a less-than-bombastic bat rack.

In its fourth NCAA Final Four in the last seven seasons and its third final in the last six years, UC Irvine encountered something it had not before in Saturday's championship match at USC's Galen Center. The top deck, normally reserved for a few late arrivals at other venues, was nearly filled to capacity as the 9,612 in attendance marked the third-largest crown ever for an NCAA men's volleyball final. No. 2-ranked and No. 1-seeded UCI completed a 25-22, 34-32, 26-24 victory over the No. 1-ranked and No. 2-seeded Trojans that was anything but sweeping.

VOLLEYBALL UC Irvine def. Pepperdine MALIBU - Senior All-American opposite Carson Clark had a match-high 24 kills and hit .500 to help the visiting Anteaters top the Waves, 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 17-25, 15-12, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match Thursday. The victory propels No. 2-ranked UCI (20-4, 16-4 in the MPSF) into a a first-place tie with BYU in the conference standings heading into the 'Eaters match Saturday at No. 1-ranked USC. Sophomore outside hitter Jeremy Dejno had 13 kills and junior outside hitter Kevin Tillie added 12 as UCI junior setter Chris Austin had a career-high 60 assists.

LOS ANGELES - The novelty of a left-handed second baseman in the UC Irvine lineup was the talk of the Dodger Stadium press box Tuesday afternoon. But, unfortunately for the Anteaters, there was much more familiarity to the offensive struggles that continued in a 3-2 nonconference baseball loss to Pepperdine in the Dodgertown Classic. The Anteaters (8-7) managed three hits, tying a season-low, and have now scored two or fewer runs six times, all losses, this season. "We know what we are on offense," said UCI Coach Mike Gillespie, who has fashioned a Hall of Fame career and nearly 950 Division I wins by getting his teams to execute effectively enough to cull victories out of a less-than-bombastic bat rack.

UC Irvine outside hitter Kevin Tillie has been National Player of the Week by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. after helping the Anteaters to victories over then-No. 6 Pepperdine and No. 5 USC last week. Against the Waves on Wednesday, Tillie had 13 kills and hit .478 while adding five digs for the No. 2-ranked Anteaters. Two days later against USC, he had a team-high 18 kills while hitting .567. The junior transfer from Thompson Rivers University in Canada, had just one error in the match, while adding three block assists.

The UC Irvine men's volleyball team will enjoy an exciting week in its schedule as the Anteaters play host to Pepperdine on Wednesday and the highly regarded USC Trojans on Friday night. Both matches are at 7 p.m. at the Bren Events Center. This is an opportunity to watch the talented UCI men's team (5-2, 1-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), ranked No. 2 in the nation, and two high-ranked teams. Pepperdine, ranked No. 6, and fifth-ranked USC always are the biggest draws when they play at UCI. Pepperdine is 5-1 and 4-0 in MPSF play.

The UC Irvine men's volleyball team was picked to finish second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll. UC Irvine was in second with 112 points and four first-place votes. BYU earned the top spot with 115 points and six first-place votes. Stanford was third (92) and UCLA was fourth (90) with each team garnering a first-place vote. Long Beach State and Northridge tied for the six spot with 68 points apiece, while Pepperdine's 62 points were eighth.

MEN'S WATER POLO UC Irvine 5, Pepperdine 4 LOS ANGELES - Seventh-seeded UC Irvine edged No. 6 Pepperdine in a consolation game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament at UCLA's Spieker Aquatics Center on Saturday. With the win, UCI faces eighth-seeded Pacific in the fifth-place match at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Trent Baxter led the Anteaters with two goals, and Mitch Wise, Nick Pfeil and Winston Newland also scored. Newland's score in the third quarter ended up as the game-winner.

Corona del Mar High senior Joe Ctvrtlik has verbally committed to play volleyball at Stanford, Sea Kings Coach Steve Conti said Tuesday. Ctvrtlik, a setter, helped the Sea Kings win Pacific Coast League, CIF Southern Section Division II and CIF Southern California Regional Division II titles. CdM also captured the ESPN RISE national title. Ctvrtlik is the oldest of three sons of Bob Ctvrtlik, a volleyball hall of famer and Olympic gold medalist who starred at Pepperdine. - Steve Virgen * Powers paces USA Former UC Irvine All-American Jeff Powers scored three goals to help the U.S. men's water polo team defeat Argentina, 13-7, Tuesday at the Pan American Games.

A game at Dodger Stadium and two trips to Texas are among the highlights of the nonconference portion of the UC Irvine baseball schedule, which was released Tuesday. Following the annual Alumni Game on Feb. 4, Coach Mike Gillespie's Anteaters open the 2012 campaign at the RBI Tournament, which will be played at Minute Maid Park and the RBI facility in Houston, Feb. 17-19. UCI's home opener is against UNLV Feb. 20 and its first home weekend series is against Washington Feb. 24-26.

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL UC Irvine def. Pepperdine MALIBU — Anteaters junior opposite Carson Clark led all players with 12 kills and six digs as No. 7-ranked UCI posted the 25-19, 25-17, 25-19 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory Thursday on the road. Senior outside Cody Yoder had 11 kills and no attack errors for UCI (12-9, 9-6 in MPSF). Senior outside Jordan DuFault had eight kills and senior setter Anthony Spittle had 36 assists, four blocks and four digs. Maurice Torres and Sean Pedersen led No. 11 Pepperdine (6-10, 4-10)