Los Angeles, Calif. – No. 14 UC Irvine had its best offensive performance of the year in a 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-23) sweep of USC at the Galen Center Sunday evening.

The Anteaters hit a season-high .515 (44-10-66) for the match and did not commit an error in the second set, hitting a blistering .682 (15-0-22). UCI also out-blocked the Trojans 8-6 and held a 20-6 dig advantage.

With the win, UCI's playoff hopes remain alive as the Anteaters go to 9-18 overall and 6-14 in the MPSF. The Trojans are eliminated from post-season play as they fall to 7-17 on the year and 5-15 in the MPSF.

Junior Michael Saeta led the team with 14 kills, hitting .667 (14-2-18) and junior Thomas Hodges added 10 kills and tied Dillon Hoffman with a team-high five digs. Junior Tamir Hershko returned to the lineup for two sets and recorded six kills and one error in eight attempts. Senior Marty Ross hit a perfect 1.000 (5-0-5) and rejected seven total blocks. Seniors Jason Agopian and Kyle Russell added four kills apiece, while freshman Dante Chakravorti posted 36 set assists.  

USC was led by Josh Kirchner's seven kills. Lucas Yoder recorded six kills and Alex Slaught had five kills in the loss. 

Back-to-back blocks put the Trojans in front for the first time 10-9 in the first set. Kills by Jason Agopian and Tamir Hershko moved the Anteaters back in front 15-14 then a block and kill by Michael Saeta opened an 18-15 advantage. USC would close to 21-20, but Thomas Hodges put the ball away to maintain the lead and the Anteaters would go on to a 25-21 victory.

Consecutive kills by Hodges set the tone for the second set, giving the Anteaters a 6-3 lead. Back-to-back kills by Agopian stretched the lead to 13-9. UCI dominated the net at the end of the set with four blocks and won 25-15.

In the third set, USC led 15-13 before a kill by Saeta and a block by Kyle Russell tied the set then a block by Saeta gave UCI the 17-16 lead.  With the Trojans leading 23-22, UCI had a kill by Ross and two USC attack errors to close the set, 25-23 set and 3-0 sweep.

After 10 matches on the road, UCI returns home for the final two regular season matches at the Bren Center. The Anteaters will host CSUN Thursday (Apr. 7) and Long Beach State Saturday (Apr. 9) in important MPSF matches beginning at 7:00 p.m. UCI will honor its three seniors: Jason Agopian, Kyle Russell and Marty Ross prior to Saturday's match.