Box Score IRVINE, Calif. –No. 3 UC Irvine struggled offensively and lost to No. 2 Hawaii 3-0 (33-31, 25-19, 25-14) in the first meeting between the two schools at the Bren Events Center Friday.

The Anteaters hit a season-low .182 (33-17-88) to go to 13-3 overall and 2-1 in the Big West. Hawaii remains unbeaten at 11-0 overall and picks up its first Big West win (1-0).

COACH KNIFFIN SAID
"The first set felt like a No. 2 versus No. 3 match-up. Hawaii kept the pressure on more consistently tonight. This is an area we know we need to, and can, improve."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Hawaii out-hit UCI .411 to .182 and held a 30-22 advantage in digs
>Sophomore Joel Schneidmiller led UCI with nine kills and two aces
>Opposite Karl Apfelbach added eight kills
>Scott Stadick led the team with three total blocks
>Hawaii's Rado Parapunov (18) and Colton Cowell (11) carried the offensive load for the Warriors. Parapunov had four blocks, while Cowell hit .588 

TURNING POINTS
SET 1
>A pair of kills by Joel Schneidmiller helped UCI out to a 4-2 lead
>Three consecutive kills by Hawaii, two by Rado Parapunov gave the Warriors a 7-6 lead
>Another kill by Parapunov and three UCI attack errors, two on blocks by Patrick Gasman put Hawaii up 12-8
>With UH leading 19-17, UCI used a kill by Alexandre Nsakanda and an ace by Dante Chakravorti to knot the set at 19 all
>A kill and ace by Schneidmiller plus a Hawaii attack error moved the Anteater lead to 22-20
>UCI held set point 24-22 only to watch Hawaii score three unanswered to take a 25-24 lead
>The epic battle would continue until a kill by Parapunov and an ace by Colton Cowell gave Hawaii the set 33-31

SET 2
>Three straight points by Hawaii gave the Warriors an 8-5 advantage
>A 3-1 spurt by Hawaii would build another three point lead at 13-10
>An ace by Aaron Koubi made it 15-13, but UH would quickly increase the margin to a 19-15
>An ace by Schneidmiller narrowed the score to 19-17, but a service error stopped the momentum
>Hawaii would go on to win the set 25-19

SET 3
>Back-to-back kills by Colton Cowell moved Hawaii in front 10-7
>Five in a row then moved the Hawaii advantage to 15-8
>Hawaii would hit .591 (14-1-22) and win the set 25-14. The Anteaters mustered a .042 hitting percentage in the final frame (8-7-24)

NOTES
>UCI snaps a seven match winning streak, the longest of the season
>Schneidmiller increased his team leading ace count to 34
>Libero David Parker moved in to seventh all-time in UCI digs (598) with a team-high seven tonight

 UP NEXT
>These two teams will tangle again tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.