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May 6, 2011
Monday's
Complete Release in PDF Format
• Official Watch Party
UCSB Athletics is hosting an official watch party for the
championship game at Sandbar, located on State Street downtown. Be
part of the fun, get happy hour specials and win UCSB gear by
joining UCSB Athletics beginning at 3:30!
• Career Night for Davis
Dylan Davis
broke a number of records on Thursday night. He set a career high
in kills with 15, his previous high was 13 at Hawai'i on February
3. He broke the NCAA tourney record for single-match hitting
percentage with a .882 clip. The previous record was held by USC
assistant coach Jeff Nygaard at .867. It was also a career-high
hitting percentage for Dylan. His previous high was .688 in the
same match against Hawai'i on Feb 3.
Dylan is five blocks away from joining Scott Slaughter
(106 blocks) in UCSB's century club.
• Irons's Defensive Game Coming on
Strong
Cullen
Irons's defensive game has come to the forefront since the
beginning of the MPSF playoffs, and has continued into the NCAA's.
On Thursday night, Cullen set a season-high with six blocks. He had
recorded five blocks on multiple occasions, most recently at
Stanford on February 26. He also had six digs, which while nothing
to sneeze at, is his lowest postseason total. He recorded seven at
BYU, 11 vs Long Beach State, and 12 at USC.
• Gauchos in NCAA Title Matches
The Gauchos are 0-4 all-time in NCAA Championship matches. Their
most recent loss came in 1988 at the hands of the USC Trojans,
while they fell to Al Scates's UCLA Bruins three times in the
1970's (71', 74', 75').
• Undefeated Against the Buckeyes
In school history, the Gauchos have never lost to Ohio State. They
are 7-0 against the Buckeyes, most recently beating them in
2010.
• Menzel Down, But Not Out
Jeff Menzel
had one of his least effective matches in recent memory on Thursday
night. He recorded just 13 kills, by far his lowest in the
postseason and his lowest overall since recording 11 at Pepperdine
on April 14. His .071 hitting percentage was the second lowest of
the season, the lowest being .038 at Pacific on February 25. His 42
attack attempts were the lowest total of the postseason, so it's a
good bet his numbers will be back up against Ohio St.
Entering the Championship match, Jeff sits at 494 kills and 999
attacks, so barring catastrophe he will eclipse the 500 kill and
1000 attacks marks.
• All in the Family
Should the Gauchos win on Saturday night, Rick and Jim McLaughlin
will be the first pair of brothers to have both won an NCAA
National Championship in men's volleyball. Jim won a national title
for USC in 1990 in his rookie year as a head coach. Jim is now the
head coach for Washington's women's team.
• Dig Extraordinaire
Andy enters the Championship match with 267 digs on the season. If
he records 4 or more digs, he will have the top two single-season
dig totals in school history. Andy set the record with 322 digs
last year. Aaron Mansfield
currently sits at No. 2 with 270 digs recorded in the 2004
season.
• Valbuena Contributing
Trey's 8 kills on Thursday night were the most he's recorded since
March 12 vs Lewis at the Long Beach Active Ankle Tournament. Though
his .800 hitting percentage wasn't technically eligible, it is his
highest clip of the season. Thursday night's match was also the
most reception opportunities Trey has had without picking up a
reception error.
• My Setter Vinny
Thursday night's match was the sixth in a row in which Vince
recorded 40+ assists.
• Great Scott
Scott has now recorded 7+ kills in all four playoff matches. Scott
avoided recording a service error for just the fourth time this
season on Thursday night.
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