PROVO, Utah – Karl Apfelbach posted a career-high 22 kills and 15 digs to lead UC Irvine to a 3-1 victory over No. 13 Loyola-Chicago (22-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-22) at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Apfelbach topped the Anteaters, who improve to 2-0 to start the year, with his first career double-double, hitting .444 (22-6-36) and adding two block assists.

UCI freshman Joel Schneidmiller improved his career-high to 12 kills in his second match. Middle blockers Scott Stadick and Matthew Younggren added eight and six kills respectively, with Stadick recording six total blocks and Younggren rejecting five. Setter Dante Chakravorti had a season-best 42 set assists to go with a career-high 12 digs and three blocks. JB Kam had the team's lone ace, five kills and three block assists in the win.

UCI dominated the net, out-blocking the Ramblers 11-5.

Loyola (1-1) was led by Collin Mahan with 14 kills and Jeff Jendryk with 10.

Three straight Loyola kills gave the Ramblers the separation they would need (16-13) in the first set as they would never trail again. UCI tried to rally on a 4-2 run which was capped by a Scott Stadick kill to close to 21-19, but the teams would trade points to end the set with Loyola taking it 25-22.

A couple of Rambler errors and a JB Kam ace gave UCI the 8-6 advantage in the second set. A kill by Stadick and a solo block by Matthew Younggren moved the gap to 14-10 then back-to-back kills by Joel Schneidmiller and Stadick extended the lead to 18-13.  UCI would go on to win 25-19.

Four Rambler errors, including a block by Stadick and Kam, helped UCI jump out to an early 6-1 lead. Three more Loyola errors helped the Anteaters keep rolling to 10-3.  Loyola would not go away scoring four straight, three on Anteater errors to close to 16-13. A pair of Schneidmiller kills seemed to put UCI back in control, 21-16, but the Ramblers would score four of the next five to inch to 22-20, forcing the Anteaters to call timeout. Schneidmiller would hit off the triple block coming out of the huddle and UCI would win the set 25-22.

UCI led 5-2, but unforced errors helped Loyola-Chicago get back in to the set at 6-6. A 5-2 spurt, that included a pair of kills by Schneidmiller and one from Kam and Apfelbach put the Anteaters in front 12-9. Consecutive kills by Stadick and Apfelbach gave UCI the 14-11 lead then back-to-back kills by Apfelbach and Younggren opened a 17-13 advantage. Following a Loyola timeout, a pair of Rambler errors, including a block by Younggren and Kam increased the lead to 19-13. With UCI holding match point, Loyola would score three straight to narrow the deficit to 24-22 before Apfelbach pounded the winner 25-22.

UCI stays on the road, traveling to No. UCLA Wednesday (Jan. 10) before its home debut on Friday (Jan. 12) against USC at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters end the week at Pepperdine on Sunday (Jan. 14) at 3:00 p.m.