A year ago, it would have been preposterous to suggest that UC Irvine would be the only unbeaten team in the toughest conference in men's collegiate volleyball in 2003. Warriors visit
10-0 AnteatersBy Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comThe Anteaters ended last season with a 12-17 overall record and had just six wins in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. Their highest ranking during 2002 was 13th and they finished the season at No. 15.
This year, the Anteaters (10-0, 3-0 MPSF) have shot to No. 1 in the AVCA coaches poll for the first time in school history. Their ranking seems just as unlikely as their unblemished record. UCI has beaten everybody on its way to the best start in school history.
Its list of victims include perennial power UCLA, whom it defeated twice, Pepperdine, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. The Anteaters have doubled their previous win total (1) against UCLA in a month.
Do all the victories have first-year head coach John Speraw scratching his head at the Anteaters' success? Yes.
"So far, so good," said Speraw, a former starting middle blocker for UCLA. "There's part of me that knows this is early in the season. Rankings in January as Hawaii knows, they're not as important. Being No. 1 is important at the end of the season.
"But this is great for the program. It's really great for these guys. They haven't had a whole lot of success in the past. Last year, they graduated six seniors from a team that didn't even make the playoffs. For these guys who have had sporadic playing time or haven't been able to put it together, to come in and start like this is a real boost for them."
Before this season, the Anteaters had 4-0 starts twice (1996, 1998). UCI has only had nine victories or more in a season six times in the program's 15 year history.
The Anteaters are rolling and if the second-ranked Warriors are reeling, Hawaii (5-1, 1-1) could get plowed over by UCI in this MPSF series.
The Warriors have a showdown with the Anteaters tomorrow at 5 p.m. Hawaii time. The match was moved to the Bren Events Center for a cable television broadcast and to accommodate a larger crowd.
Hawaii knows it must bring its game to another level this weekend and it can't afford to have any lapses.
"We have to play well, finish. Not sit on a lead. Keep our wits about us," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "They're going to be fired up. They've got a very scrappy team from what I hear. They've got a good ball control team."
Opposite Jimmy Pelzel has been all but unstoppable in the Anteaters' first 10 matches. The junior has been on a tear since switching from outside hitter to opposite. His supporting cast has been just as effective. Speraw says that UCI's strength is in a multi-pronged attack. On any given night, the Anteaters could have five hitters in double digits.
Speraw has been pounding it into his players heads that the goal is simply to get better.
"For early in the season, we play with remarkable consistency and poise," Speraw said. "The bottom line is we've been able to take advantage of other team's weaknesses more than they've been able to take advantage of ours.
"The other thing is that early in the season, nobody thought anything of playing UC Irvine. We had that going for us up until the second time we beat UCLA. We've really woken people up."
Hawaii promises it won't be caught snoozing.
"It's a tough team. I've played with these guys in club," setter Kimo Tuyay said. "They're really scrappy and they play well together. They play good defense. To me, it's going to be a tough match."
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