THIS WEEK
No. 8 Stanford at No. 4 UC Irvine · Friday, Apr. 5 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Center
Live Stats
Pacific at No. 4 UC Irvine · Saturday, Apr. 6 · 7:00 p.m. · Crawford Court
Live Stats
QUICK HITS
No. 4 UC Irvine will host No. 8 Stanford Friday (Apr. 5) at the Bren Events Center then entertain Pacific Saturday (Apr. 6) in Crawford Court. Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m.
The Anteaters enter the week 18-6 overall and in second place in the MPSF standings with a 15-6 record.
With a win last week, UCI has secured a home match for the MPSF Quarterfinals on Apr. 20. at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Center.
The top eight teams advance to the MPSF Tournament with the top four teams hosting a first round contest. BYU has clinched the No. 1 seed in the tournament and barring an upset in the quarterfinals, the Cougars will host the semifinals and finals in Provo, UT.
UCI trails Stanford (30-15), but leads Pacific (26-10) in the series records.
The eighth-ranked Cardinal are 12-10 overall and 9-10 in the MPSF. Stanford has dropped the last four matches and has lost the last three meetings with the Anteaters.
UCI beat Stanford 3-1 in the first meeting of the year. The Anteaters had 12 team blocks and eight aces. Kevin Tillie lead UCI with 18 kills, hitting .531 (18-1-32). Jermey Dejno totaled 12 kills, two aces and seven digs, while opposite Zack La Cavera had nine kills, three aces and eight digs.
Steven Irwin had a match-high 21kills and Brian Cook recorded 18 kills in the loss. Jake Kneller scooped 15 digs for Stanford.
Pacific is 7-16 on the year and 4-15 in the MPSF and is receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll.
In the first meeting versus Pacific, Tillie paced UCI with 14 kills, three aces and a then season-high 11 digs. La Cavera put away 10 kills, while setter Daniel Stork 31 set assists and a match-high six blocks.
Pacific struggled offensively, hitting .105 as a team and was led by Adam Troy with nine kills.
For the first time this year, UCI has dropped out of the top two in the AVCA poll coming in at No. 4. The Anteaters remained No. 2 in the Volleyball Magazine poll. The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 15 for 133 consecutive weeks.
Libero Michael Brinkley has 238 digs so far this season, which ranks seventh in the UCI season records. After 186 career matches, he ranks 17th all-time with 437 digs.
Middle blocker Collin Mehring is ranked sixth nationally in blocking (1.26), while libero Michael Brinkley is ranked sixth in the country in digs per set (2.64). Outside hitter Kevin Tillie is 11th in kills (3.79) and 12th (4.43) in points.
As a team, UCI is sixth in the country in hitting percentage (.301), seventh in assists (12.0) and eighth in kills (12.8) and blocks (2.61). In the MPSF, UCI ranks third in opponent hitting percentage (.248), kills and assists. The Anteaters are fourth in hitting percentage (.301) and fifth in blocks (2.61).
Middle blocker Scott Kevorken leads the MPSF in hitting percentage with a .509 mark followed by Mehring at .484. Mehring is fifth in blocks and Brinkley ranks second in digs. Tillie is eighth in kills, points and aces (0.35) and is ninth in digs (1.87).
Last week, UCI split a pair of matches, losing to No. 4 UCLA, 3-1 and beating UC San Diego, 3-2.
Junior Connor Hughes led the Anteaters in both matches last week with 12 kills versus the Bruins and a season-high 17 against the Tritons. The Anteaters hit a hit a season low .183 (42-21-115) in the loss to UCLA following a 15-day lay off.
Scott Kevorken had a season-best 11 kills and eight total blocks against the Tritons.
The Anteaters' 18 overall wins are the seventh most in school history, while the 15 league wins are the fifth most in the UCI record book.
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