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Faulkner: ‘Eaters assume throne

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The gap on the scoreboard, as well as the gap in institutional resources, was stark. And it was diametrically opposed.

UCLA, the monolith of the West, the athletic aristocrat, with a record 112 NCAA titles, 19 of which earned on the men’s volleyball court, was run off the court Saturday by the far less visible UC. UC Irvine, in fact, from which the best coach in the land had fled for the well-appointed and anointed environs of tradition-steeped Westwood.

But it was the program that Bruins head man John Speraw left behind, not the one with which he has toiled for three largely fruitless seasons that celebrated a 25-17, 25-18, 25-15 humbling of the eminently bully-able Bruins in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament quarterfinal at Bren Events Center.

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It was the No. 2-ranked and No. 1-seeded Anteaters (26-4), who moved convincingly along in pursuit of their fifth NCAA championship in nine seasons, all since UCLA had claimed its last NCAA crown in 2006.

Five of UCI’s starting seven, including MPSF Player of the Year Zack La Cavera, two-time All-American libero Michael Brinkley and All-MPSF middle blocker Jason Agopian, were recruited to UCI during Speraw’s tenure.

But while there was an overlap in talent between the 10-year Speraw era and that of his former assistant, UCI setter and third-year coach David Kniffin, the existence of what has become known as “the culture,” is the most distinctive feature of UCI volleyball. And that culture — the ubiquity of unselfishness, devotion to team and the passionate pursuit of unfailing competitive poise — is now bigger than any individual fingerprint.

In three seasons, Kniffin and UCI hold a 5-3 head-to-head advantage over Speraw and UCLA, which started four freshmen and a sophomore Saturday, including thunderous outside hitter and MPSF Freshman of the Year J.T. Hatch. Against his former mentor, Kniffin’s UCI teams have won 19 of 31 games and outscored the Bruins, 701-630.

No. 12-ranked UCLA finished its season 13-14.

UCI continues against No. 8-ranked USC (20-8) in the MPSF semifinals on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Bren, where the Trojans, the No. 4 seed in the MPSF Tournament, earned a five-game triumph on Jan. 23. UCI won in five games at UCI on March 3.

No. 3-ranked and No. 2-seeded Hawaii (24-5) meets No. 5-ranked and No. 3-seeded Pepperdine (23-5) in the other semifinal on Thursday at 5 p.m. The final is Friday at 7 p.m.

UCI, the MPSF regular-season champion, failed to win the conference tournament (and the guaranteed berth in the NCAA Championships) the first two times it was the regular-season champion (in 2006 and 2009). But even if the ‘Eaters can’t add two wins this weekend, they are virtually assured a spot in the six-team NCAA field, which begins competition at Stanford on May 5 with two play-in matches that will pare the field to four.

The NCAA semifinals are May 7 and the title match is May 9.

•Also at Stanford that weekend will be the UCI women’s water polo team, which earned one of four at-large berths into the 10-team NCAA Championship field after being upset, 9-8, by host Hawaii in the Big West Conference Tournament final on Sunday.

Coach Dan Klatt’s Anteaters (19-7), who are making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, are the No. 5 seed. They will meet No. 4-seeded Cal in the quarterfinal on May 8 at 5:15 p.m. at the Avery Aquatic Complex.

UCI, led by junior McKenna Mitchell (42 goals), senior Danielle Warde (39), freshman Mary Brooks (27), junior Cambria Shockley (23) and senior goalie Jillian Yocum (229 saves), is 0-2 against Cal this season. The Golden Bears earned a 9-4 win on Feb. 1 and a 10-6 victory on Feb. 21.

UCI was sixth at the NCAA Championships last season, fourth in 2012 and fifth in 2011.

But during Klatt’s 11 seasons, UCI is 0-53 against the Big Four of Stanford, Cal, USC and UCLA. In those games, the ‘Eaters have been outscored, 580-273. Those 53 losses include five one-goal verdicts, three against UCLA and two against Cal.

UCLA (24-2) is the top seed in this year’s tournament. Stanford (22-2) is the No. 2 seed and USC (22-5) is No. 3.

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