UCI picked to fourth in MPSF preseason poll

The defending national champion UC Irvine men’s volleyball program was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in the conference coaches’ preseason poll.

Coach John Speraw’s Anteaters, who won the MPSF regular-season title in 2006 and won the MPSF Tournament in 2007, both program firsts, received 88 points and no first-place votes.

Pepperdine (108 points) and BYU (105) both received five first-place votes as the top two in the poll. UCLA, the 2006 national champion, was picked third with 104 points and one first-place vote.

Cal State Northridge, picked fifth with 85 points, also received one first-place vote.

UCI, which will open its season against Cal Baptist on Jan. 2 at Crawford Court, will be led by senior Aaron Harrell, as well as returning starters Brent Asuka and Taylor Wilson.

Harrell, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker, was named third-team All-MPSF last season, when he ranked 12th nationally with a .443 hitting percentage.

Asuka, a junior libero, was also a third-team All-MPSF performer last season, after earning national Newcomer of the Year laurels as a freshman.

Wilson, a 6-foot-7 opposite last season, helped the Anteaters go 29-5, 17-5 in the MPSF.

— From staff reports