THIS WEEK
MPSF Matches
No. 7 UC Irvine at No. 5 USC · Tuesday, Jan. 14 · 7:00 p.m. · Galen Center
Live Stats TV: Pac-12 Network
No. 8 BYU at No. 7 UC Irvine · Friday, Jan. 17 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Events Center
Live Stats
Cal Baptist at No. 7 UC Irvine · Saturday, Jan. 18 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Events Center
Live Stats
QUICK HITS
In a busy week, No. 7 UCI will travel to No. 5 USC Tuesday (Jan. 14) for a 7:00 p.m. match at the Galen Center before hosting No. 8 BYU Friday (Jan. 17) and Cal Baptist Saturday (Jan. 18) in the first home matches of the season. Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Center.
Tuesday's match against the Trojans will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
USC is 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the MPSF with a 3-0 victory over UC San Diego last Friday. The Trojans beat Loyola two days after the Anteaters were in Chicago.
The Trojans are 28-25 all-time versus UCI. Note that UCI only counts NCAA eligible matches in the series records.
The teams split a pair of contests last season with the Anteaters winning the last meeting 3-0 in the Lyon Center. Outside hitter Jeremy Dejno paced the squad with 12 kills. UCI hit .355 to the Trojans' .184.
On Thursday (Jan. 16), UCI's 2013 national championship banner will be unveiled at the Bren Center during a halftime ceremony at the men's basketball game versus Cal State Fullerton. The basketball game begins at 7:00 p.m.
UCI will have opened the season playing the first six matches on the road before hosting the Cougars on Friday.
UCI trails BYU 40-12 in the series records. The Cougars beat UCI twice last season in the regular season, before the Anteaters took the last meeting, a 3-0 victory in the national championship match.
In the last meeting with the Cougars, Connor Hughes, the NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player, had 11 kills as did Zack La Cavera and graduated senior Kevin Tillie. Scott Kevorken recorded 12 total blocks.
BYU enters the week 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the MPSF. The Cougars swept Cal State Northridge before upending last week's No. 1 Long Beach State.
The Anteaters hold an 11-3 advantage over Cal Baptist all-time. The teams each won on their home court last season. In the last outing, UCI topped the Lancers 3-2 at the Bren Center. The Anteaters posted a season-high 18.5 blocks.
Entering the week, Cal Baptist is looking for its first win of the year, going 0-3 overall and 0-2 in the MPSF. The Lancers will host UC San Diego on Thursday.
UCI dropped to No. 7 in the AVCA Coaches poll. It is the lowest ranking since the Anteaters were No. 7 on March 7, 2011. UCI started the season ranked No. 4 in the Volleyball Magazine poll. The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 15 for 140 consecutive weeks.
UCI have been ranked No. 1 in seven different years (2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014).
The Anteaters are 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the MPSF after dropping a 3-1 decision at Pepperdine last Friday.
Zack La Cavera led the Eaters versus the Waves with 10 kills. Travis Woloson sparked the team off the bench with eight kills. Connor Hughes also posted eight kills, while Scott Kevorken added seven kills and four blocks. Junior setter Robert Frazzoni made his first career start, collecting 21 set assists. Daniel Stork came in to post a season-best 24 set assists in the final two sets.
