Long Beach, Calif. – No. 5 Ohio State out-blocked UC Irvine 12-5 in a 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 25-17) victory over the No. 14 Anteaters in the first match of the Asics Tournament hosted by Long Beach State at the Walter Pyramid.

UCI (6-13) was led by Michael Saeta with a career-best 13 kills followed by Jason Agopian with 11 kills and a team-best three total blocks. David Parker recorded eight kills and three aces and Kyle Russell added seven kills. In his Anteater debut, Ben Sebastian totaled four kills and two digs.

The Buckeyes  (16-3) were led by Nikolas Szerszen's 22 kills and five block assists. Driss Guessous had 11 kills and a match-best eight total blocks. Miles Johnson had 10 kills and Gabriel Domecus had 10 digs.

Ohio State started out with an early 4-1 lead on back-to-back UCI attack errors. Three consecutive kills by Driss Guessous gave Ohio State a comfortable 22-15 lead as they took the set 25-18.

In the second set, a kill and ace by Tucker Pikula helped UCI to a 15-12 lead before back-to-back kills by Agopian and Russell extended the advantage to 22-17. UCI would win the set 25-20 on a kill by Saeta.

With OSU up 18-13 in the third set, UCI rallied on kills by Ben Sebastian and Saeta and an ace by Parker to narrow the gap to 18-16, but UCI could never get even and the Buckeyes would win 25-21.

Kills by Parker and Russell followed by a Buckeye error put UCI ahead 16-14 in the fourth set. Ohio State would then capitalize scoring eight straight and 11 of the final 12 points, 10 coming off of UCI miscues to end the match 25-17. UCI hit -.037 (10-11-27) in the final stanza.

The tournament continues tomorrow with UCI battling No. 13 Lewis tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. at the Pyramid.