No. 8 UC Irvine Grinds Out 3-1 Victory Over Cal State Northridge
March 26, 2014 | Men's Volleyball
Irvine, Calif. –Serving and defense were the keys to No. 8 UC Irvine's 3-1 (25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18) victory over Cal State Northridge at the Bren Center Wednesday.
The Anteaters (15-9, 12-8) fired nine aces and out--dug the Matadors, 51-38. Both the ace and dig totals were the second most this season for UCI.
Junior Zack La Cavera and senior Jeremy Dejno carried the offensive load for UCI as La Cavera tied his career with 19 kills and Dejno recorded 14 kills and hit .480 (14-2-25). Dejno recorded three aces and also tied his career-high with 10 digs. Seniors Connor Hughes and Collin Mehring each added seven kills, while Mehring posted a match-best five block assists. Setter Roberto Frazzoni had 43 set assists, two aces and a career-high 14 digs. Libero Michael Brinkley matched Frazzoni with a match-high 14 digs.
Cal State Northridge (7-15, 6-13) was led by Greg Faulkner with 11 kills. Travis Magorien had 32 set assists and eight digs in the loss.
Serving was big in the first set as the Anteaters fired six aces on their way to a 25-18 victory. UCI used an 8-2 run to break open the game, 20-13.
A Jeremy Dejno kill tied the second set at 21-21, but that would be the last point that UCI would record as Cal State Northridge would score the last four points, three on kills by Greg Faulkner, to win the game 25-21. The Matadors hit .221, while UCI hit .132.
UCI called timeout in the third set with the score tied at 21-21, before the Anteaters used a kill by Zack La Cavera, a kill by Scott Kevorken on an overpass from a Tamir Hersko bullet serve and a block by Dejno and Kevorken to open a 24-21 gap. A UCI service error delayed set point as the Matadors returned the favor and put the ball in the middle of the net for the Anteaters' 25-22 win.
UCI jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead in the fourth and scored three in a row behind the serving of Kevorken to take a 17-9 lead. UCI would win the set 25-18.
UC Irvine will battle No. 4 Long Beach State Friday (Mar. 28) in a Black & Blue Rivalry match at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Center.
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