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MPSF Matches
No. 14 UC Irvine at No. 8 Hawaii · Friday, Mar. 25 · 10:00 p.m. PT · Stan Sheriff Center
Live Stats
No. 14 UC Irvine at No. 8 Hawaii · Saturday, Mar. 26 · 10:00 p.m. PT · Stan Sheriff Center
Live Stats
QUICK HITS
No. 14 UC Irvine continues its road trek traveling from Washington D.C. to Honolulu for a pair of
matches with No. 8 Hawaii Friday and Saturday (Mar. 25-26). Both matches begin at 10:00 p.m. PT in the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Anteaters will have played five matches over seven days and will have played in four different states.
UC Irvine, who has won four of its last seven matches, moved to No. 14 in the rankings this week.
The Anteaters are 8-15 overall and 5-11 in the MPSF.
Hawaii holds a 30-21 series record advantage over UC Irvine. The Anteaters have won 11 of the last 12 meetings, including the last five matches in Honolulu. The last time the two schools played in Honolulu UCI won 3-0 at last year's Outrigger Resorts Invitational.
Hawaii is 12-9 overall and 7-9 in the MPSF. The Warriors were idle last week after winning two matches at CSUN on Mar. 11-12.
The Anteaters are coming off five non-conference matches. UCI recorded a 3-1 loss to Ohio State and 3-2 win over Lewis at the Asics Tournament hosted by Long Beach State (Mar. 11&12). UCI then lost 3-2 at Ball State Sunday, lost 3-1 at Penn State Monday and beat George Mason 3-2 Tuesday.
Michael Seata has been moved to the pins and has provided much needed offensive power. The junior led UCI with a career-high 24 kills against Ohio State and again against George Mason. As offensive as he has been in kills, his serve has been as lethal. He has fired 15 aces in the last four matches, including a career-high five in the win over Lewis. He is fifth in the country in aces with a 0.49 average. He is averaging 1.43 kills per game, after playing a majority of the season at setter.
Kyle Russell leads the squad with a 3.16 kills and 3.79 points per set average and is second in aces at 0.36.
Libero Dillion Hoffman tied his career-high for the third time this season with 13 digs versus George Mason. He leads the team with a 2.20 dig average, which ranks third in the MPSF.
David Parker recorded 18 digs versus George Mason, the most for the Anteaters since All-American
Michael Brinkley had 19 against UC Santa Barbara last April.
Middle blocker Jason Agopian has had a solid senior season, ranking 11th in the MPSF in hitting
percentage (.396). The senior is averaging 2.14 kills and 0.73 blocks per set. He posted a career-high 16 kills versus Ball State to begin the road trip.
Junior opposite
Tamir Hershko will be honored as UCI's Lauds & Laurels Outstanding Student-Athlete, one of the institutions highest honors. The All-American will be recognized at a banquet on May 12. The university's oldest awards ceremony has recognized more than 750 members of the UCI community for their service to the university, the community or their profession. Hershko has been sidelined most of the season with a leg injury.
