IRVINE, Calif. – A trio of Anteaters posted a season-high in kills as No. 4 UC Irvine beat No. 15 USC 3-2 (25-20, 25-27, 19-25, 25-23, 15-10) in front of 1,125 fans at the Bren Events Center.

UCI improves to 11-2 on the year and extends their winning streak to five. USC goes to 6-4 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Opposite Karl Apfelbach led all players with a season-high 19 kills to go with two aces, eight digs and four total blocks
>Outside hitter Aaron Koubi posted a season-high 14 kills and nine digs
>Outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller recorded his third double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs
>Middle blocker Scott Stadick had a season-high 11 kills and a team-best four blocks
>Libero David Parker had a team-high 13 digs, while setter Dante Chakravorti added 50 set assists and seven digs
>The teams were evenly matches with UCI holding a slight edge in hitting (.306-.303) and digs (52-51). USC held the advantage in aces (8-7) and both teams had seven blocks
>USC's Ryan Moss had a team-high 18 kills

COACH DAVID KNIFFIN SAID
"We've played an intense schedule. When you squeeze an orange, you expect to get orange juice. I definitely pressed with our schedule. I was curious what would come out. This is important to know. If we are going to talk about championships. Then, when we are pressed, we better see championship qualities. I saw some of that tonight."
 
"To play two matches yesterday in a different state, fly in today for a home match, then go five with an iconic team like USC and pull out a win in front of our 2009 squad that was in attendance tonight was about as good of closure for the month as I could have asked for.
 
Now on to the next chapter, starting with UCSD on Friday."
 
TURNING POINTS
SET 1
>Joel Schneidmiller fired back-to-back aces to take a 3-1 lead
>>USC would knot the set at 4-4 and the teams would stay close until USC created separation with three straight of kills, 12-9
>UCI would go on an 8-1 run to take control 17-13
>Kills by Karl Apfelbach and Aaron Koubi moved the lead to 20-16 and consecutive kills by Austin Wilmot and Schneidmiller extended the gap to 23-18
>A Trojan service error handed the Anteaters the 25-20 victory

SET 2
>Koubi had two kills and assisted Wilmot in a block to give UCI an 8-3 lead
>The Trojans would close to 13-12 before UCI used a USC service error, an ace by Apfelbach and kill by Koubi to lead 16-12
>A kill by Gianluca Grasso and a UCI attack error tied the score at 19-19
>A USC block and a kill by Grasso gave USC the 27-25 win

SET 3
>USC would take a 11-6 lead with the help of three Jack Wyett kills
>Five straight UCI errors gave USC a 21-14 advantage
>Two kills by Schneidmiller held off the Trojans until a kill by Ryann Moss ended it 25-19

SET 4
>Three Trojans errors put UCI in front 13-9
>A 4-0 run which included two kills and a solo block by Apfelbach increased UCI's lead to 17-10
>A 4-1 run by the Trojans edged SC closer, 19-17
>A kill by Sam Lewis tied the set at 22-22
>A kill by Stadick plus a Trojan attack error gave UCI a 24-22 lead
>Following a UCI service error, Apfelbach put away the set winner, 25-23

SET 5
>A USC service error, a kill by Apfelbach, a block by Stadick and Apfelbach, a kill by Stadick and another kill by Apfelbach moved UCI out to a 5-0 lead
>A kill by Apfelbach and a Trojan attack error pushed the Anteater lead to 10-4
>Kills by Schneidmiller and Apfelbach ended the match, 15-10

NOTES
>UCI honored the 2009 National Championship team on its 10-year anniversary during the match
>UCI won three matches over the last 36 hours
>UCI is 3-0 at home this season
>Schneidmiller fired a team-best three aces and leads the squad with 28. He has recorded at least one ace in all but one match this year
>It is the third time this season, Chakravorti has recorded 50 or more set assists
 

UP NEXT
>UCI will head to UC San Diego Friday (Feb.8) for a 7:00 p.m. match at RIMAC Arena