LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's volleyball team was picked to finish 12th this season according to the 2011 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Coaches Poll released Wednesday. UC Irvine and USC tied for first place while Stanford, the reigning NCAA champion, was predicted to finish in third.
The Anteaters and Trojans each totaled 100 points and three first-place votes to top the poll. Both squads were MPSF quarterfinalists in 2010. Stanford had 96 points and a pair of first-place votes. Pepperdine was fourth with 90 points and one first-place vote, BYU was fifth with 85 points and two first-place votes and Hawaii rounded out the top-six with 83 points.
UCLA was chosen seventh in the poll (68 points) and was the sixth and final team to garner a first-place vote. The Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara were eighth (58 points), Long Beach State was ninth (43 points), Cal State Northridge was 10th (35 points), Pacific was 11th (18 points) and UCSD followed with 16 points.
UCSD completed its 2010 campaign with an 11-19 overall record and placed 11th in the MPSF with a 6-16 mark. The Tritons, ranked among the top-15 teams nationally all season, posted season sweeps of league opponents Pacific, Pepperdine and UCLA. They picked up a thrilling five-set victory over No. 3 Pepperdine on Senior Night to close out the season. Junior setter Phil Bannan and senior outside hitter Jason Spangler were named All-MPSF Honorable Mention while middle blocker Cyrus Kiani found himself on the MPSF All-Freshman Team.
The Tritons kick off their 2011 season at the UCSB Invitational on Jan. 7-8 before jumping right in to MPSF play at UC Irvine on Jan. 12. The home season opens at RIMAC Arena on Jan. 14 as UCSD plays host to UC Santa Barbara.
