March
30 , 2004
Slugs Come Out Swinging:
Make Final Four Bid
The
Slugs had their final home match of the 2004 season, against NorCal rival
Cal Berkeley. It was also senior night, sending off one senior, Outside
hitter Nick Brockman.
"We wanted to end this year on a good note, and send our senior off
with a victory. We accomplished both, and in good fashion," Coach
Hosack comments.
Indeed the Slugs did come out swinging, with the team hitting a whopping .443 for the match. Nick Brockman, Sam Fullerton, Alex Minneboo, and Jason McDaniel all had double digit kills,
and helped us blast past the Bears of Cal. "Not only did we hit well,
but we blocked extremely well last night," coach Hosack comments.
"I think we had somewhere around 17-18 blocks, which is really good
against a strong hitting team. I was real proud of the way my guys played
last night."
The Slugs not only finished off with a win, but they also accomplished
something they have never done before, earned a spot in the Molten
DIII National Championship Final Four.
"We have come close a couple of times, but never put it all together
like we did this year. To earn a spot takes a huge amount of work, dedication,
and believing in yourself and your team. This is a very nice way to finish
off this season. I have put my heart and soul into this program, and it
feels good to be recognized for it," coach Hosack states.
The championships take place at Eastern Mennonite University, located
in Harrisonburg, Virginia on April 16-17. "We should be seeded
#2 in the tournament, and will face a NECVA team in the semis most likely.
I am looking forward to this experience, as I am sure the boys are. We
will just go in there and perform our best and let the chips fall where
they may."
February
28, 2004
Slugs Beat La Verne for Driver's Seat to Final Four
For
the first time since 2001, the UCSC Men's Volleyball team defeated
DIII West Coast rival the University of La Verne 3 games to 1 in front
of a raucous crowd of 250 at the West Field House. The scores for the
match were 30-28, 30-24, 27-30, 30-23.
Kill leaders for the Slugs were Nick Brockman and Sam Fullerton,
each with 14 kills, and Jason McDaniel with 12 kills. The match
evens out the series for the programs, putting them at 1-1 for the season
against each other. The AVCA,
who makes the decisions for the Final Four matchups, will make the decision
at the end of March. The Leopards have won the DIII Championships in 1999,
and have been to the tournament the last 3 years in a row. UCSC has never
reached the Final Four, and is looking to make its first trip ever this
year. The Final Four will be held at Eastern Mennonite University, in
Harrisburg, Virginia.
"It was a great win, and I am very proud of my guys. We have come
close a couple of times in beating them, but just missed the mark by a
few points. La Verne is a good, solid program, and to beat them, you are
looking at beating one of the best." Coach Hosack comments. "We
played the worst match of the season the first time we saw them, and it
showed. We knew we were better, and we have been preparing since that
day to beat them the next time we saw them. Our hard work has paid off,
and we are in the driver's seat now for the Final Four bid."
Hosack further comments "Two things ring true: It is better to lose
at the beginning of the year, then at the end, and we are peaking at the
right time. You don't want to peak at the beginning of the year."
The Slugs' next home match is against Hope International
University, this Friday at 7pm in the West Field House. Admission is
Free. The Slugs defeated Hope in their first meeting, winning 3-0.
February
10, 2004
Slugs Fight Hard Against Top 5 Teams in Country
The
UCSC men's volleyball team played its toughest road trip in history this
past week, taking on then ranked #1 in the country UCLA, then playing
#2 ranked Long Beach State, and then #5 ranked UC Santa Barbara. The trip
took 4 days to complete, and along the way, made a stop at the taping
of 'The Best Damn Sports Show Period', eventually making a screen appearance
for the team.
"What a week," head coach Jay Hosack comments. "We played
the best of the best, and earned a lot of respect this past week. Usually
we are in and out pretty fast, but this year we fought in each match,
and were leading in a good number of the games during the matches. To
score in the 20's against those teams in each of the games says a lot
about the caliber of the guys right now. We are definitely on an upswing,
and at the right time too!"
At the time of this writing, the Slugs have moved up to #4
ranking in the country with this past week's efforts, a few notches
above where they started the year.
The Slugs take on Santa Clara this Friday at 6:45pm in
the West Field House, admission is free for all who come. Also,
UCSC will take on DIII West Coast rival the University of LaVerne on Feb
28 here at UCSC at 6:45 pm at the West Field House.
January
31, 2004
Slugs Go 3-0 on a Tough Week
UC
Santa Cruz Men's volleyball, currently ranked
#5 in the country, won all three of its matches for the week, topping
off Cal 3-1, Santa Clara 3-2, and devastated UC Davis 3-0.
"It was a good week for us," Coach Hosack comments. "We
did not beat Cal last year in our two meetings, we split with Santa Clara,
and Davis just beat us up last year. This year, we lost a tough one to
Davis in the semi's of a preseason tournament, but my guys were gassed.
They just got done playing two really hard matches (One against Cal, with
UCSC winning 2-1) and the other against Fresno State."
UCSC came out a little slow for the year, starting out 1-4. Although three
of the losses were against top Division I opponents (Stanford, UOP, UC
Irvine), the 4th loss was against DIII rival LaVerne.
"I would like to see them now, seeing as how we have turned a corner.
They are definitely in the driver seat, but we see them again at the end
of February, it might be a different story then...."
The win against Davis was the first since the 2002 year, but UCSC has
never beaten them in 3 straight. UC Davis is currently ranked #1 in Northern
California for the NCCVL, and was the runner up in last year's NIRSA championships.
UCSC takes on perenial powerhouses UCLA (Wed, 2/4 at Pauley
Pavilion), Long Beach State (Friday, 2/6 in the Pyramid), and UC Santa
Barbara (Saturday, 2/7 in Roberson Gym) this week in a grueling 4 day
road trip. All matches are at 7pm.
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