Anteaters stunned

IRVINE — The invincibility of the UC Irvine men’s volleyball team took a substantial hit Thursday night, as visiting No. 4-ranked USC pounced on the top-ranked Anteaters to claim a 30-25, 30-25, 30-27 victory in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament at the Bren Events Center.

The loss does not figure to cost UCI its NCAA title hopes, as the Anteaters (24-6) are still expected to earn an at-large into the four-team NCAA Championship, May 7 and 9 at BYU.

USC, however, appeared to be a team potent enough to get to Provo, Utah. The Trojans (19-10), the No. 5 seed in the MPSF Tournament, will need to defeat No. 2-ranked Pepperdine in Saturday’s tournament final to earn the conference’s guaranteed berth in the Final Four.

UCI had won six straight matches, 13 in a row at home and 10 consecutive meetings with USC.

Instead, the Anteaters were forced to wave goodbye to their final home crowd of the season, and hope to regroup to bid for their second NCAA crown in three seasons.

“I still think we probably get the at-large [NCAA Tournament berth],” UCI Coach John Speraw said. “We should. We were the best team all season. But it’s a political decision and I told the guys they need to prepare themselves for the reality of the possibility that a decision could go against them.

“But I think we’re the best team and we can go out to Provo and win a title.”

UCI will learn its NCAA Tournament fate Sunday at 10:30 a.m. when the championship pairings will be announced.

Murphy Troy, a 6-foot-8 sophomore outside hitter, paced the winners with 19 kills, matching UCI senior outside hitter Taylor Wilson for match-high honors.

Troy hit .600, making just one error on 30 swings.

Tony Ciarelli, a 6-6 freshman outside hitter, had 18 kills and a match-high four ace serves for the Trojans.

Wilson finished with a .484 hitting percentage as UCI hit .462 as a team in the match.

USC hit .392 as a team, but produced 12 aces, doubling UCI’s total.

UCI, the nation’s top blocking team, posted a 4.5-4 edge in team blocks, and made 14 service errors, to just six by the Trojans.

“That is probably the best [aces to service errors] ratio in the history of the MPSF,” said Speraw, who said his team’s poor defense was the key.

“We didn’t do enough. We didn’t pass the ball right off the bat … Our offense actually played great. When you’re hitting about .490 and you’re getting your butt kicked, that says something about what your defense is doing.”

USC seized a 6-1 lead in the opening set and lead by five several times before the Anteaters rallied to pull even at 20-20 and 21-21.

But five service errors, including three late, helped UCI squander a .379 hitting percentage.

USC hit .353 in the first set and had three aces with only three service errors.

The Trojans maintained the intensity in Game 2, pulling away from a 6-6 deadlock to earn a 13-7 advantage that eventually became 23-16, before closing it out. UCI hit .517 as a team in Game 2, but USC hit .406, behind powerful kills from Troy and Ciarelli.

At the end of the second set, Murphy had 13 kills and was hitting .632. Ciarelli, the nephew of Newport Harbor High football and track and field assistant coach Tony Ciarelli, had 11 kills. Both Troy and Ciarelli had three aces apiece entering Game 3.

Freshman Carson Clark had 13 kills and led the ’Eaters with 12 digs and three aces.

Senior setter Ryan Ammerman, like Clark a first-team All-MPSF performer, had 44 assists.