Irvine, Calif. – Opposite Zack La Cavera put away a match-high 14 kills to lead fifth-ranked UC Irvine to a 3-0 sweep of CSUN (25-16, 25-17, 26-24) at the Bren Events Center Wednesday.

The Anteaters improve to 21-4 overall and 15-3 in the MPSF while CSUN falls to 9-15, 6-12. With the win, UCI secured a home match for the MPSF quarterfinals.

After La Cavera's match-high 14 kills, a balanced attack followed with Tamir Hershko adding nine kills, Travis Woloson eight kills and Jason Agopian totaling seven kills and three block assists. Setter Roberto Frazzoni had 31 set assists and seven digs, while libero Michael Brinkley totaled 13 digs. Andrew Benz and Thomas Hodges pitched in three and two kills, respectively.

The Anteaters ht .378 (43-12-82) and fired five aces. UCI out-dug (34-24) and out-blocked (5-4) the Matadors.

CSUN was paced by Bradley Sakaida with nine kills and six digs. Arvis Greene had seven kills and three blocks and Kyle Stevenson tallied six kills.

UCI hit .421 (10-2-19) and held CSUN to a .125 (9-6-24) mark to win the first set 25-16. The Anteaters broke open the set scoring five straight, which included an ace by Jason Agopian and four Matador errors.

UCI used two CSUN attack errors, an ace by Roberto Frazzoni and a block by Agopian and Tamir Hershko to open an 11-7 lead in the second set. Kills by Travis Woloson and Zack La Cavera, plus an ace by Agopian and a solo block by La Cavera gave the Anteaters set point 24-16. The teams would trade service errors to end the set 25-17.

The Anteaters held a 15-12 lead on a Hershko kill, before CSUN went on a 4-1 run to knot the score at 16-16. UCI had consecutive kills by Agopian and La Cavera to push ahead 19-17, but the Matadors responded with the next two 19-19. A Hershko kill, a Matador attack error and a block by Hershko and Agopian ended the set 26-24 and the match 3-0.

No. 5 UC Irvine will battle No. 10 Long Beach State in a Black and Blue Rivalry match on Friday (Apr. 3) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.