UCI, Asuka dig four-game win
IRVINE — Brent Asuka has had an up-and-down sophomore season for the UC Irvine men's volleyball team.
But things were mostly up after Saturday night's 30-25, 30-24, 24-30, 30-18 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win over Cal State Northridge at the Bren Events Center.
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The No. 2-ranked Anteaters' spirits were up after winning their fifth match in a row. And the ball was up off the ground plenty of times after Asuka recorded one of his career-high 21 digs.
The 21 digs for the libero from Hawaii, last season's National and MPSF Newcomer of the Year, is No. 2 in UCI's all-time record book for most digs in a match. It's also the most digs for the Anteaters (17-3, 11-3 in the MPSF) in the rally-scoring era.
UCI Coach John Speraw was also pleased with Asuka's efforts, calling it his best match of the season. What also made Speraw happy against No. 10 Cal State Northridge (8-9, 6-6) was that the Anteaters, coming off an uplifting win at No. 3 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, still looked sharp three days later.
UCI went up, 8-1, in the first game behind serving from reigning National Player of the Week Aaron Harrell (five kills) and Matt Webber (16 kills), forcing Northridge to call a timeout. The Matadors never got closer than four points the rest of the way.
