THIS WEEK
UC SANTA BARBARA/ASICS INVITATIONAL

No. 6 UC Irvine vs Harvard
Thursday, Jan. 8 | 4:30 PM | Robertson Gym
Stats    Watch: ESPN+

No. 6 UC Irvine vs Kentucky State
Friday, Jan. 9 | 7:00 PM | Robertson Gym
Stats     Watch: ESPN+

No. 6 UC Irvine vs Maryville
Saturday, Jan. 10 | 2:00 PM | Robertson Gym
Stats      Watch: ESPN+

FIRST SERVE
Sixth-ranked UC Irvine will compete at the UCSB/Asics Invitational Thursday– Saturday (Jan. 8-10) at Robertson Gymnasium.

The Anteaters will face Harvard at 4:30 p.m. Thursday followed by Kentucky State Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Maryville on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

STORYLINES
UC Irvine finished the 2025 season ranked No. 5 with a 21-7 overall record.

The new look Anteaters will be without All-Americans Hilir Henno, Nolan Flexen, Maxim Grigoriev and Joe Karlous.

Henno, the National Player of the Year, ended his career with 255 service aces which tied an NCAA record with UC Santa Barbara's Evan Patek.

UC Irvine was picked to finish third in the Big West in the Preseason Coaches Poll after finishing in third a year ago with a 6-4 record.

The Anteaters return three starters: William D'Arcy, Micah Goss and Shane Aitken, each one a honorable mention All-Americans a year ago.

Last year at this event, UCI swept Menlo, Tusculum and Missouri S&T.

THE OPPONENTS
UC Irvine and Harvard have met once before with the Anteaters winning 3-0 on Jan. 12, 2022.

Harvard concluded the 2024 season with a 9–15 overall record and a 5–7 mark in the EIVA.

This will be the first meeting with both Kentucky State and Maryville.

Kentucky State went 0-16 overall and 0-12 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference a year ago.

Maryville will compete in the inaugural season of Great Lakes Valley Conference and  were voted to finish second in the league's preseason poll.

The Saints were 19-9 in 2025, finishing second at the Independent Volleyball Association Men's Volleyball Tournament.