THIS WEEK 
MPSF Matches

No. 12 UC Irvine at No. 10 UC Santa Barbara · Wednesday, Feb. 10 · 7:00 p.m. · Rob Gym
Live Stats     Video

 

No. 12 UC Irvine at No. 2 UCLA · Thursday, Feb. 11 · 7:00 p.m. · Pauley Pavilion
Live Stats     Video 

QUICK HITS

No. 12 UC Irvine will begin a four-match road trip, traveling to No. 10 UC Santa Barbara Wednesday (Feb. 10) for a 7:00 p.m. match at Rob Gym then head to No. 2 UCLA Thursday (Feb. 11) for a 7:00 p.m. first serve at Pauley Pavilion.

The Anteaters picked up their first MPSF win beating the Gauchos 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22) earlier this year at the Bren Center.

In the first meeting, the Anteaters hit .347 and had 41 digs, six aces and 7.5 blocks, while UCSB hit .276 and totaled 40 digs, five aces and 8.0 blocks.

Tamir Hershko led all players with 19 kills and 12 digs. He committed just one error in 38 attempts.   Reid Dominguez and Kyle Russell each added 11 kills. UCSB was led by Matt Marsh's 13 kills. Austin Kingi and Connor Drake each had nine kills and Ryan Hardy hit .800 (8-0-10) with five blocks.

UCSB is 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the MPSF. The Gauchos are on a three-match losing streak, dropping a pair of 3-0 losses at BYU last weekend.

The Gauchos are 4-1 at home this season.

UCLA is 11-1 overall and 7-1 in the MPSF, losing their lone match at Hawaii, 3-1 last Friday.

The Bruins are a perfect 4-0 at home this year.

UCLA is ranked No. 2, but had more first place votes (11) than No. 1 Long Beach State (9).

The Bruins beat UCI, 3-1 at the Bren Center to begin MPSF play.

Hershko posted a match-high 20 kills against the Bruins, while Russell added 15 kills. Mitch Stahl and Jake Arnitz led UCLA with 14 kills apiece.

UCLA edged UCI at the net, out-blocking the Anteaters 9.5-9.0 and had eight aces to UCI's two. The Anteaters did out-hit the Bruins .292 (56-21-120) to .269 (55-20-130).

UCI is 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the MPSF, splitting two matches last week with a 3-1 loss to Cal Baptist and defeating USC 3-1 at home.

Versus the Trojans, Karl Apfelbach and Russell led the team with 16 kills, which was a career-high for Apfelbach and a season-best for Russell. Outside hitter Tucker Pikula hit .524, totaling a personal-best 12 kills to go with eight digs. Middle blocker Jason Agopian registered a season-best 11 kills and hit .625, committing a lone error in 16 swings.

Opposite Thomas Hodges paced the Anteaters with a career-high 11 kills and six digs against the Lancers.

Junior Tamir Hershko, who was sidelined with an injury last week, leads the squad with a 4.07 kills and 4.42 points average. He ranks fifth in kills and points among MPSF players overall.  The All-American also ranks sixth in digs (2.17).

Agopian ranks fifth in the MPSF in hitting percentage with a .468 mark. He had a season-high 11 kills versus USC, hitting .625 (11-1-16).

Michael Saeta and Kyle Russell are fourth (.50) and fifth (0.45), respectively in ace average among MPSF players.

Middle blocker Marty Ross is seventh in the conference in blocking with a 1.18 average. Last week he rejected 11 total blocks, including seven against USC.

Freshman setter Dante Chakravorti started both matches last week and posted a career-high 51 set assists in the win over the Trojans. He led UCI to its best offensive effort as the team hit .457 (60-12-105). On the year, he is averaging 8.73 set assists per game.