ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – UC Irvine used a season-high 13.5 blocks to beat No. 7 Lewis 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20) at Neil Carey Arena Saturday.

The Anteaters record back-to-back wins over top 10 teams to start the year 2-0. Lewis evens its season ledger at 1-1.

COACH DAVID KNIFFIN SAID
"Lewis is such a great environment. Small gym, loud fans and always a good team. Navigating the energy of that place is tough and I'm proud of the guys for staying within themselves."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>The Anteater middle blocker posted season-best performances at the net with junior Scott Stadick recording seven total blocks and sophomore Austin Wilmot adding six. Senior Karl Apfelbach pitched in five stuffs as well
>A trio of Anteaters had double-figure kills led by Joel Schneidmiller and Aaron Koubi with 13 followed by Apfelbach with 10.
>David Parker had a season-high 14 digs
>The Anteaters hit .269 and recorded five aces, led by Schneidmiller with two
>UCI held Lewis to a .104 hitting percentage (46-33-125)
>Ryan Coenen and TJ Murray paced the Flyers with 11 kills each

TURNING POINTS
SET 1
>Lewis got off to a quick 3-0 start, but UCI got back in the set with a block by Joel Schneidmiller and Scott Stadick, 4-3
>A pair of kills by Schneidmiller and one by Karl Apfelbach gave the Anteaters a 7-4 lead
>A kill by Apfelbach was followed by a Jonny Bowles ace to extend the UCI lead to 18-13
>Three straight Flyer attack errors pushed the advantage to 22-15 forcing a Lewis timeout
>The Anteaters would hit .400 (14-2-30) on their way to a 25-19 victory

SET 2
> With UCI leading 3-1, Lewis would score five straight, which included four consecutive Anteater attack errors
>A kill and ace by Apfelbach plus a kill by Aaron Koubi gave the Anteaters the lead back at 9-8
>The Flyers would make a move using two UCI attack errors and a kill to take a 16-13 lead
>Two straight Lewis attack errors, the last a block by Koubi and Stadick and an ace by Schneidmiller erased the deficit, 16-16
>A pair of Flyer kills gave Lewis a 19-17 cushion and they would not relinquish the lead taking the set 25-20
>In contrast to the first set, UCI hit .000 (8-8-34) in the second

SET 3
>A kill and ace by Schneidmiller gave the Anteaters the 7-4 lead
>A kill by Koubi was followed by a block by Apfelbach and Austin Wilmot to make the score 9-5
>A 5-1 UCI run which included a block by Stadick and Apfelbach extended the gap to 18-12
>A Flyer service error would end the set 25-17

SET 4
>A 3-0 spurt by the Flyers which included a kill, ace and block put the Flyers up 9-7
>UCI outscored Lewis 3-1 with the run capped by a Koubi kill to knot the score at 10-10
>Another 3-0 streak by UCI gave the Anteaters a 13-11 lead
>A kill by Schneidmiller made the score 20-17, but the Flyers would edge to 20-19 on a kill and a block
>UCI would score five of the final six points, two on Apfelbach kills and three Lewis errors to win the set 25-20

NOTES
>UCI is 5-1 versus the Flyers all-time
>The Anteaters have beaten Lewis and Loyola on consecutive nights to start the last two seasons
>Schneidmiller has a team-best four aces on the season
>Koubi's 13 kills is a season-high as he hit .400 (13-3-25) from the outside

UP NEXT
>UCI will head to Ball State Monday (Jan. 7) for a 4:00 p.m. PT first serve.