Provo, Utah – Second-ranked UC Irvine swept No. 14 George Mason (25-21, 25-16, 25-18) in the first match of the AVCA Showcase hosted by BYU at the Smith Fieldhouse.
The Anteaters (1-0) were led by outside hitter Tamir Hershko with 11 kills and a team-high five digs. Opposite Karl Apfelbach made his UCI debut, totaling seven kills, four digs and three block assists. Sophomore Reid Dominguez got the start at outside and added five kills as did senior Kyle Russell who replaced him, putting away all five kills in the final set. Setter Michael Saeta hit .667 (4-0-6), had 30 set assists and fired four aces in the win. Middle blocker Marty Ross recorded three kills and three block assists.
George Mason (0-2) was led by Christian Malias with 10 kills followed by Jack Wilson with eight. Brian Negron collected 30 set assists.
UCI hit .300 (37-13-80) for the match, while the Patriots hit .171 (33-20-76). George Mason out-dug (25-18) and out-blocked (6-5) UCI, but the Anteaters were better at the service line, 6-1.
UCI jumped out to a quick 3-0 start in the first set and extended the lead to 9-3 on kills by Tamir Hershko, Reid Dominguez and two by Michael Saeta. Three Patriot errors gave UCI set point (24-17), but George Mason rallied to score the next four points to draw within 24-21 and force a UCI timeout. Hershko immediately put away a kill to end the set 25-21. Hershko dominated the set with seven kills.
George Mason controlled the second set early (5-2) before UCI went on a 7-2 run to take a 9-7 lead. Following a Marty Ross kill, Ross assisted in a block that was followed by a George Mason error to push the margin to 14-10. UCI would score the final five points of the set, including two Saeta aces to win 25-16.
The teams remained close in the third game until UCI used a Patriot service error, a kill by Karl Apfelbach and a block by Apfelbach and Ross to take a 12-9 advantage. A kill by Hershko and two more Saeta aces pushed UCI's lead to 20-15 and the Anteaters would go on to win the set 25-18.
No. 2 UCI will battle No. 3 Loyola tomorrow (Jan. 9) at 3:30 p.m. PT in a rematch of last year's NCAA Championship semifinal.
