Faulkner: ‘Eaters went south

If the college volleyball season were viewed as an annual migration, the UC Irvine men’s team clearly lost its way in 2016.

Picked No. 2 in the nation in the preseason poll and coming off its third NCAA Final Four in the previous four seasons, all signs pointed toward another voyage to the top of the collegiate landscape.

But a string of injuries, most notably a lower-leg ailment that sidelined junior All-American outside hitter Tamir Hershko for 18 matches, as well as some more subtle developments, aligned to leave Coach David Kniffin sifting through the ruins of a 10-19 campaign, the program’s first losing season since 2005.

Kniffin used an aerial analogy to describe how this year’s team never got off the ground.

“I think one of the greatest challenges we face in this program is that we expect ourselves to be successful,” Kniffin said of a UCI outfit that produced NCAA crowns in 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2013, the first three under then-coach John Speraw. “So the best way I’ve been able to describe it is when you are flying in formation and your lead geese are no longer there, it’s not until that moment you realize how difficult it is to break that head wind. I think we had some guys coming in who kind of drafted off the success that came before them.”

Kniffin said a string of nine straight road matches late in the season initially created a galvanizing effect. But the eighth match of the road swing at Cal Baptist — a three-set loss to the NCAA Division II school in Riverside that had also won in four games at UCI in early February — was the low point of the season.

“Coming home from that long road trip, we felt we had turned a corner,” Kniffin said. “But losing 3-0 at Cal Baptist was not something our guys thought was possible. I remember looking around [after that match], thinking we can’t go lower. This doesn’t feel real.”

UCI responded by sweeping USC and Cal State Northridge and when Cal Baptist lost a pair of matches at Hawaii to end the regular season, the ‘Eaters collected the eighth and final berth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.

But a three-set first-round loss at regular-season champion BYU on Saturday put an atypically early end to UCI’s season.

Kniffin said injuries and instability at every position helped shake UCI’s foundation this season, but he pointed to inconsistency at outside hitter as the most glaring disappointment.

That being said, Kniffin believes UCI can bounce back next season.

“We definitely have the talent to be competitive,” said Kniffin, who described a four-player recruiting class as under the radar, with the exception of Scott Stadick, a high school senior from Watertown, Wisc.

“Full-disclosure, he’s my brother-in-law,” Kniffin said of the 7-foot middle blocker who was one of two at his position named all-tournament while representing the United States youth national team at an event last summer in Argentina.

“I would venture to say he is one of the top two middle blockers in the world in his age group, and we expect big things from him right out of the gate,” Kniffin said.”

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•UC Irvine sophomore Keston Hiura is among 60 baseball players named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list.

The center fielder who was the Big West Conference Freshman Field Player of the Year last season and made several preseason All-American teams this spring, leads the Big West in batting (.398), slugging (.659), home runs (seven), runs batted in (32) and total bases (82).

His .480 on-base percentage ranks third in the conference and through Wednesday, he had reached base in 49 straight games dating back to last season.

He has 49 hits in 123 at-bats, with 16 extra-base hits for the Anteaters (20-13, 4-5 in conference).

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•Tamara Inoue, hired Wednesday to coach the UCI women’s basketball team, credits New Mexico State Coach Mark Trakh for helping develop her skill set to the point at which she was ready to become a head coach. Trakh has also done the same for Long Beach State Coach Jody Wynn, who played and coached under the former Pepperdine and USC coach.

So, when I asked Inoue whom Trakh would root for when the Anteaters battled the 49ers from now on, her answer revealed that the topic had already been discussed.

“Mark said, ‘Tamara, I’m going to wear a shirt with both schools’ colors split right down the middle and I’m not even going to watch the game. I’m going to look at [the score] and them I’m not going to answer either of your phone calls [about the game],’” Inoue said.