Finding gems in the rough

UC Irvine men’s volleyball coaches have become so adept at finding players overlooked by other schools, they actually rescued one of this year’s starters from the Coast Guard.

Matt Webber, a junior opposite who ranks seventh nationally in kills per game (4.75) and points per game (5.43), was moving full-speed ahead with plans to enlist in the Coast Guard, before UC Irvine assistant John Hawks spotted him at a club tournament soon after Webber had completed his prep career at Liberty High in Brentwood, a Bay Area suburb.

Then there’s junior outside hitter Jayson Jablonsky, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year, who committed to UC Irvine because it provided a convenient alternative to the only other NCAA Division I program that showed serious interest (BYU).

UCI Coach John Speraw recently recalled the rapid recruitment of Jablonsky, who starred at Esperanza High in Anaheim.

“I saw him take one swing and I told my assistant coaches, ‘We want him,’ ” Speraw said. “My first thought was, we want him. My second thought was, how in the world was this guy not signed by anybody?”

Webber and Jablonsky helped the Anteaters (27-3) finish the regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation. UCI also claimed the program’s first MPSF regular season crown and takes a 21-match win streak into the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament tonight at 7:30 against No. 2-ranked Long Beach State (22-9) at the Bren Events Center.

UCI defeated the 49ers in four games in both previous meetings, Feb. 23 in Long Beach and April 1 at home.

UCLA faces Pepperdine in the other semifinal at 5. Tonight’s winners will meet in the final, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at UCI. The tournament champion earns an automatic berth in the four-team NCAA Championships, scheduled for May 4 and 6 at Penn State University.

The Anteaters’ storybook season has included strong contributions from senior captain Paul Spittle, first-team All-MPSF libero Brent Asuka, and middle blockers Aaron Harrell and David Smith, as well as setter Brian Thornton.

But Webber and Jablonsky, now roommates with similar stories of surprising collegiate success, have 499 and 422 kills, respectively ? 54% of the Anteaters’ total this season.

“I was talking with Jayson the other day about how Irvine is basically a team of nobodies,” Webber said. “Even the MPSF Player of the Year wasn’t highly recruited.”

Recruiters who missed out on Webber and Jablonsky ? Hawks said coaches at Pacific are still catching flak for passing on Webber, and Jablonsky said Long Beach State passed on him after concluding he would never be a good passer ? might find solace in the two players’ back stories.

The 6-foot-5 Webber, a second-team All-MPSF selection, said he was 5-10 until his junior year of high school. But he grew to 6-4 his senior year at Brentwood, after which he played for the Diablo Valley club program.

“[Diablo Valley] finished fifth at Junior Olympics when I was a senior and I thought I played pretty well,” Webber said. “I saw some UOP coaches at a few of my tournaments, but they never talked to me. I guess I must not have made much of an impression on them.

“I was kind of bummed about it. I didn’t apply to any colleges, I had given up on a volleyball future, and I was planning on a future in the military.”

But Hawks had other plans.

“I was surprised that someone that size and with that strong of an armswing wasn’t being recruited,” Hawks said. “Over the summer after he graduated, I saw him go from a good to average player, to someone who had taken his game to the next level. For us, it looked like we had found a diamond in the rough and it turns out that we really had.”

Jablonsky, also 6-5, said he was 5-6 as a high school freshman. He had played baseball and soccer, but decided to give volleyball a try and began playing on a club team as a sophomore.

A growth spurt helped turn him into a menacing hitter at Esperanza, where he helped the Aztecs win the 2002 CIF Southern Section Division I championship. He was named All-CIF, then helped the Newport Beach-based Balboa Bay club team finish third at Junior Olympics as a senior.

Still, there was only modest recruiting interest.

“I wasn’t really surprised, because I hadn’t been in the sport that long,” Jablonsky said. “For a while, I didn’t even know there was guys’ volleyball in college. But I saw during my senior club season that I kind of matched up well against guys who had already committed to big schools.

“Long Beach State, UCI and BYU were talking to me, but pretty soon it was only UCI and BYU. I visited here before my scheduled visit to BYU. But I liked it so much here, I knew I wasn’t even going to bother to visit BYU.”

Webber and Jablonsky said they had modest expectations upon entering UCI.

Speraw said their success, like that of the entire team, is directly attributable to hard work.

“Webber has improved defensively maybe as much as anyone on the team,” Speraw said. “He has become a really good blocker. I think he still has a big upside and he can become a much better player.”

Speraw said Jablonsky might be the best end blocker in the country. He also noted Jablonsky has become a solid defender and passer since becoming an Anteater.

“[Jablonsky] is just a very, very good all-around player,” Speraw said. “I think he can be a great beach player and he can be a great player for our national team.”

First, however, Speraw hopes Jablonsky and Webber can help UCI win a national title.dpt-ucivolley27.IMGGraphicInfoPL1QC5ER20060427PL1QC5ERNo Captiondpt.27-jablonsky-CPhotoInfoLA1QC4V120060427ix2u4hkn(LA)dpt.27-webber-CPhotoInfoLA1QC4Q220060427ix2u3yknPHOTOS BY MARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)UC Irvine’s Matt Webber, above, is seventh in the nation in kills. Teammate Jayson Jablonsky, below, is the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s Player of the Year. Together, they’ve helped lead the Anteaters to No. 1 in the nation.