Irvine, Calif. – Fourth-ranked UC Irvine blanked UC San Diego, 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-15) in the regular season finale and senior night at the Bren Events Center Saturday.
The win coupled with a Hawaii loss, gives UCI the MPSF regular season title with a 19-3 record. The Anteaters, who are 25-4 overall, will be the No. 1 seed for the MPSF Championship and will battle eighth-seeded UCLA next Saturday (Apr. 25) in a quarterfinal match at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center. Tickets are now on sale.
UCI was led by senior outside hitter Travis Woloson with 12 kills, hitting .550 (12-1-20), senior opposite Zack La Cavera with 11 kills and three total blocks and senior libero Michael Brinkley with a match-high 14 digs. Senior setter Roberto Frazzoni added 11 set assists in two sets. Outside hitter Tamir Hershko totaled nine kills, two aces and eight digs, while middle blocker Jason Agopian had five kills and two total blocks. Outside hitter Thomas Hodges hit .667 with four kills on six swings and no errors. Setter Michael Saeta recorded 26 set assists, a kill, an ace and four digs.
UC San Diego (2-26, 0-22) was led by Ian Colbert and Tanner Syftestad with eight kills each. Matthew Schnitzer has a match-best five total blocks. The Tritons owned the net, out-blocking UCI 8.5 to 4.0.
UCI started the first set 7-2, which included a pair of Jason Agopian kills and an ace by Tamir Hershko. The Tritons would score four in a row to creep within 20-16, but a Zack La Cavera kill and an ace by Reid Dominquez pushed the advantage to 22-16. A kill by Hershko, a service ace by Michael Saeta and a kill by La Cavera ended the set, 25-17.
UC San Diego would lead 14-13 in the second set before a Travis Woloson kill was followed by a Triton attack error and a pair of Thomas Hodges kills to put the Anteaters in front 17-14. A UCSD attack error gave UCI the 25-21 victory.
Behind the serving of Hershko and Agopian, UCI opened the final set with a 12-3 lead. An ace by Woloson and a kill by Hodges won the set 25-15. Woloson took over the last game with six kills, including his fourth cross court kill of the match to lead the Anteaters. UCSD struggled to get on track offensively, hitting .071 (7-5-28), while UCI hit .345 (15-5-29).
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