Irvine, Calif. – Fourth-seeded and second-ranked UC Irvine toppled fifth-seed UCLA, 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinal match at the Bren Events Center Saturday.
UCI improves to 22-5 overall and advances to face the top-seed USC on Thursday (Apr. 26) in a MPSF semifinal match at 7:30 p.m. at the Galen Center. Second-seed Stanford and third-seed BYU will meet in the first semifinal at 5:00 p.m.
Junior Kevin Tillie led all players with 20 kills, five digs and three blocks. Senior Carson Clark added 14 kills, three service aces, eight digs and three blocks. Outside hitter Connor Hughes and middle blocker Dan McDonnell each added eight kills with McDonnell hitting .889 (8-0-9) and recording four total blocks. Middle blocker Scott Kevorken had a match-high seven blocks to go with four kills, while setter Chris Austin recorded 46 set assists and a match-high nine digs. Libero Michael Brinkley collected six digs.
Gonzalo Quiroga and Nick Vogel led UCLA with seven kills apiece. Jeremy Casebeer, Thomas Amberg and Matt Hanley all added six kills in the loss. Weston Dunlap totaled a match-best six blocks. UCLA ends the season at 22-8.
UCI dominated the first set, winning 25-14 while hitting .579 (12-1-19) to the Bruins' .100 (6-4-20). UCI opened a quick 6-3 lead on a Kevin Tillie kill and extended the lead to 15-9 on three consecutive points from a Carson Clark kill and a Connor Hughes ace and kill. The Bruins would get no closer than four the rest of the game.
In the second set, a Hughes kill on an overpass pass put UCI ahead 19-17, but UCLA scored the next three to take the 20-19 advantage. A Bruin service error tied the score at 20-20 before UCLA went up 22-20. A Nick Vogel kill gave UCLA set point, but a Bruin service error delayed the win. A UCI service error gave UCLA the 25-23 win.
The Anteaters started the third set quickly at 7-3 behind the strength of three UCI blocks. UCI would win the set 25-16 and finish with five total blocks behind Scott Kevorken's four total blocks.
UCI went on a 5-0 run in the fourth set which included two kills by Hughes, an ace by Clark and a kill by Kevin Tillie to open a 15-10 gap. UCI continued to control the match leading 22-19. A kill by Vogel was followed by a joust at the net that Tillie won to give UCI the 23-20 lead. The teams traded service errors giving UCI match point 24-22. Back-to-back blocks by the Bruins made the score 24-23, but a kill by Tillie ended the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.
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