Tag: John Speraw

UC Irvine is projected by Off the Block to be No. 2 in the preseason national rankings.

Off the Block throughout December and January will reveal its projected men’s volleyball preseason top 10 national rankings and will profile a top-10 team each day. The Off the Block projected preseason rankings were created independently of the AVCA Coaches Poll and the Volleyball Magazine Top 10 Media Poll.

The college men’s volleyball season begins this week and concludes with the Final Four in May.
Continue reading “Projected preseason top 10 national rankings: No. 2 UC Irvine”

UC Irvine will have the largest tournament field in the three-year history of its preseason international tournament.

The Anteaters announced Tuesday that eight teams — three more than last season — will participate at the 2011 Irvine International Volleyball Tournament later this month.

The Irvine International Volleyball Tournament is the only preseason tournament that features a college men’s volleyball team playing professional teams from around the world. Six of the eight teams participating in the preseason tournament are international squads.
Continue reading “Record number of teams to play in Anteaters’ international tournament”

UC Irvine is exploring the possibility of expanding the amount of teams participating in its international preseason tournament this fall.

Anteaters head coach John Speraw said Tuesday that it is likely the UC Irvine International Volleyball Tournament will be more than a five-team field, if it is financially possible for the school.

“If you bring in more teams it costs more. We have begun to develop a reputation overseas with this tournament and it’s a nice event that teams want to play in,” Speraw said. “We have had more teams request to play this year. I don’t how our final budget is going to look, and we haven’t determined the final number of teams yet.”
Continue reading “UC Irvine hopes to increase number of teams at its 2011 international tournament”

Regardless of UC Irvine’s seed in the conference tournament, coach John Speraw already knows one thing: his team is capable of winning the MPSF championship.

No. 4 UC Irvine is 11-4 in the last two months and is on a four match winning streak, including a road victory against No. 5 Long Beach State on Wednesday. In addition, the Anteaters (16-11, 12-8 MPSF) clinched a spot in the eight-team conference tournament and are in fourth place in the MPSF.
Continue reading “Q&A with UC Irvine coach John Speraw”