THIS WEEK
MPSF MATCHES
No. 15 UC Santa Barbara at No. 1 UC Irvine · Thursday, Feb. 14 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Center
Live Stats
No. 1 UC Irvine at UC San Diego · Saturday, Feb. 16 · 7:00 p.m. · RIMAC Arena
Live Stats Video
No. 1 UCI will host No. 15 UC Santa Barbara Thursday (Feb. 14) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center then travel to UC San Diego Saturday (Feb. 16) at 7:00 p.m. in RIMAC Arena.
The Anteaters are 2-2 when playing on Valentine's Day all-time.
Beginning with the UCSB match on Thursday, UCI will play four matches in six days as the Anteaters will host Hawaii next Monday and Tuesday (Feb. 18&19) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Center.
UCI is 10-3 overall and 7-3 in the MPSF.
The Anteaters have strung together six straight wins, the longest winning streak by an MPSF team this year.
It will be the second meeting with the Gauchos in 15 days.
UCI trails UC Santa Barbara 31-22 in the series records, but the Anteaters have won the last five matches, including a 3-0 victory on Jan. 30 in Santa Barbara.
In the first meeting against UCSB, Kevin Tillie led UCI with 18 kills while hitting .485 (18-3-33) and collecting eight digs. Opposite Zack La Cavera added 13 kills and seven digs, while outside hitter Connor Hughes recorded 10 kills. The Gauchos out-blocked UCI 7-4, but hit just .192 (27-12-78) over the last two sets.
UCSB is 5-8 overall and 3-6 in the MPSF. The Gauchos came up short in a 3-2 loss at Provo last week after handling Cal Baptist, 3-2 at home.
UC San Diego is 4-10 overall and 2-8 in the MPSF. The Tritons, who are receiving votes in the AVCA poll this week, will entertain UC Santa Barbara Friday before hosting the Anteaters.
This is the first meeting between UCI and UC San Diego this year.
The Anteaters hold a 35-7 series advantage over UCSD and have won seven of the last eight outings, including the last three.
UCI is tied for first with BYU in the AVCA Coaches Poll for the second consecutive week. The Anteaters also held the top spot for the first three weeks of the season. The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 15 for 126 consecutive weeks. UCI is ranked No. 1 by itself in the Volleyball Magazine Top 10 poll.
The Anteaters have been ranked No. 1 in six different years (2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013).
The Anteaters have held the No. 1 spot for 32 weeks all-time.
Middle blocker Collin Mehring continues to lead the MPSF in hitting percentage with a .550 mark (80-14-120). Middle blocker Scott Kevorken is seventh (.446) and outside hitter Kevin Tillie is 10th (.368) in hitting percentage. Tillie is the only non-middle blocker ranked in the Top 10.
Tillie is also ranked sixth in kills (4.00), seventh in points (4.60) and ninth in service aces (0.33).
Libero Michael Brinkley is second in the MPSF in digs at a 2.66 clip, while opposite Zack La Cavera is 13th in kills (3.33), eighth in service aces (0.36) and 12th in points (4.03). Setters Chris Austin (9.54) and Daniel Stork (9.41) are ranked ninth and 10th respectively.
Last week, UCI snapped Stanford's 12-match home winning streak with a 3-1 victory over the Cardinal. All-American Kevin Tillie led UCI with 18 kills and had just one error for a .531 (18-1-32) hitting percentage. The Anteaters out-blocked Stanford 12 to 5.5.
UCI ended the week with a 3-0 sweep at Pacific. Tillie had 14 kills, three aces and a season-high 11 digs versus the Tigers. Setter Daniel Stork had 31 set assists and a match-high 6 blocks.
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