THIS WEEK
MPSF Matches
No. 9 UCLA at No. 3 UC Irvine · Friday, Feb. 27 · 7:00 p.m. · Bren Events Center
Live Stats Video
No. 8 UC Santa Barbara at No. 3 UC Irvine · Saturday, Feb. 28· 7:00 p.m. · Bren Center
Live Stats Video
QUICK HITS
No. 3 UCI returns home to host two important MPSF matches against No. 9 UCLA Friday (Feb.27) and No. 8 UC Santa Barbara Saturday (Feb. 28). Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.
Friday's match against the Bruins is a "Think Pink" match in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. UCI Athletics will sell Eatersallin /Think Pink bracelets for $1.00 in the upstairs lobby of the Bren Center with all proceeds going to UCI Health.
This will be the first meeting of the year against the Bruins and the Gauchos. Following this weekend, BYU is the only MPSF opponent the Anteaters haven't played. UCI will visit Provo, UT on Mar. 27 and 28.
UCLA is 8-5 overall and 4-5 in the MPSF. The Bruins are coming off of a 3-1 win against USC Sunday night at home.
The Anteaters trail UCLA 40-16 in the series records.
The Anteaters and Bruins are two of the best serving teams in the nation with both teams ranked second nationally each with a 1.78 ace average.
UCSB has won four in a row and will travel to UC San Diego Friday before visiting the Bren. The Gauchos' last three wins were 3-0 sweeps of UCLA, USC and Cal Baptist.
The Gauchos enter the week 6-5 in the MPSF and 10-5 overall.
UCI has won the last nine meetings with UC Santa Barbara, but trail the Gauchos 31-26 in the series records all-time.
UCI is 14-3 overall and is second in the MPSF with a 9-2 record. BYU tops the league at 10-2.
UCI's 14 wins are the most in the country this year.
The Anteaters are on a five-match winning streak and have won eight of the last nine outings.
UCI leads the nation in kills (13.81) and assists (12.98) and is second in hitting percentage (352).
The Anteaters have four players in the MPSF top 10 in serving. Zack La Cavera leads the team with 27 aces, followed by Kyle Russell (26), Michael Saeta (25) and Tamir Hershko (23).
The Anteaters have three players averaging over 2.80 kills per set, led by Hershko with a 3.85 kill average. Opposite Zack La Cavera is averaging 3.40 kills and outside hitter Kyle Russell averages 2.84 kills per game.
In the middle Jason Agopian is averaging 1.60 kills and 1.08 blocks per set, while Andrew Benz is averaging 1.34 kills and hitting at a .565 clip.
Entering the week, Hershko is second in the MPSF and is ranked 11th in the country with a 4.51 points per set average. He is
second in the MPSF and ranked ninth nationally in kills.
La Cavera is third in the MPSF in points (4.35) and ranked eighth in kills.
Setter Michael Saeta leads the conference and is third nationally in set assists with a 10.78 mark.
UCI had to rally and win the final two sets to beat Stanford, 3-2 last week.
UCI was led by Hershko's season-high 22 kills followed by La Cavera with 19 kills, four service aces and a career-high 13 digs. Travis Woloson pounded a career-best 12 kills to go with six digs. Setter Roberto Frazzoni totaled 36 set assists.
UCI moved up one spot to No. 3 in this week's AVCA Coaches Top 15 poll. The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 15 for 159 consecutive weeks.
UC Irvine has won four of the last eight national championships, claiming the title in 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013.
