2015 Season In Review
UC Irvine ended the season 28-5 overall, tying Loyola with the most wins in the nation. The 28 wins are the second most in UC Irvine history.
UCI competed in its sixth NCAA Championship, falling to eventual champion Loyola Chicago in the semifinals, 3-0.
All five losses came against teams that were ranked in the nation's final top seven.
The Anteaters end the year ranked No. 3 in the AVCA Coaches poll.
The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 15 for 169 consecutive weeks. UCI has been ranked No. 1 in eight different seasons (2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)
Zack La Cavera, Tamir Hershko and Michael Brinkley were named first-team All-American, the first time in school history UCI has three first-team All-Americans.
Brinkley became UCI's the first three-time All-American and was the 14th player in AVCA history to earn first-team honors three times.
The libero ended his UCI career second on the UCI all-time list with 1,099 digs. He had 330 digs this season which was second on the UCI season list. He set the UC Irvine single game record for digs with 25 against Long Beach State (Apr. 3). The senior averaged 2.95 digs per set, which led the MPSF and was fourth best in the nation.
Zack La Cavera was named MPSF Player of the Year, joining Jayson Jablonsky (2006) as the only Anteaters to garner the accolade. He was also named MPSF Tournament Most Valuable Player after recording a career-high 26 kills in the championship match against Pepperdine.
La Cavera led the Anteaters with a 3.87 kill and 4.67 points average. He ranked second in the MPSF in kills and topped the league in points. The opposite has posted 27 double-digit kill performances, including a streak of 14 to end the year. He has recorded 20-plus kills six times this season. The senior became the first Anteater player to be named MPSF Player of the Week on back-to-back weeks (Apr. 6 & 13), the first to do so in the conference in nearly two full seasons.
UC Irvine led the nation in hitting percentage (.350) and kills (13.86) and was second in assists (13.09).
UCI was the best serving team in the MPSF with a 1.48 mark. The Anteaters fired five or more aces in 20 matches this season, including a season-high 11 twice at CSUN on Feb. 11 and at Cal Baptist Jan. 24. La Cavera led with 44 followed by Hershko and Michael Saeta with 38 apiece.
Head coach David Kniffin was named MPSF Coach of the Year. He ended his third season with a 71-23 overall record.
Tamir Hershko (Jan. 13), Travis Woloson (Mar. 31) and Zack La Cavera (Apr. 7) each garnered AVCA National Player of the Week this season. UCI's was the only school to have three athletes earn the distinction this year.
Hershko, who was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team, also garnered first team All-MPSF honors, MPSF Player of the Week accolades twice as well as Most Valuable Player of the Outrigger Invitational. He was second on the team with a 3.56 kill and 4.14 point average.
The Anteaters won their third MPSF regular season title with a 19-3 mark.
UCI won their third MPSF Tournament crown with wins over UCLA (3-0), USC (3-2) and Pepperdine (3-1). Along with La Cavera, Andrew Benz and Michael Brinkley were named to the all-tournament team.
UCI won the Outrigger Resorts Invitational title with wins over Penn State (3-2), Ohio State (3-0) and host Hawaii (3-0). Hershko was named the MVP, while La Cavera and Saeta were named to the all-tournament team.
At the end of March, UCI beat BYU twice on the road, snapping the Cougars 36-home match winning streak which dates back to Feb. 1, 2013. The last time a team beat BYU twice dates back to Feb. 3 & 4, 2012 when Stanford accomplished the feat.
The Anteaters were 15-3 at home, 11-1 on the road and 2-1 on neutral courts this season. The squad was 14-2 in three set matches, 8-1 in four games and 6-2 when going five.
