THIS WEEK 
BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIP
April 18-20, 2018
Stan Sheriff Center ·  Honolulu, Hawaii

Sixth Seed UC San Diego vs. Third Seed UC Irvine · Thursday, Apr. 18 · 8:00 p.m. PT
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Third-seed UC Irvine opens postseason play against sixth-seeded UC San Diego at the Big West Championship Thursday (Apr. 17) at 8:00 p.m. PT in the Stan Sheriff Center.

The winner of the contest advances to the semifinals Friday for a 10:30 p.m. PT showdown with second-seed Hawaii. Top-seeded Long Beach waits for the winner of Thursday's match between No. 4 UC Santa Barbara and No. 5 CSUN. The championship will be held Saturday at 11:00 p.m. PT

VERSUS THE TRITONS: UCI has won 18 straight versus the Tritons, including a 3-1 victory this year in La Jolla and a 3-2 win in Irvine. 

These two teams faced each other last year in the quarterfinals of the Big West Championships with the Anteaters coming out victorious, 3-0. UCI hit a season-high .551 (54-5-89).

UC San Diego finished the regular season 7-19 overall and 0-10 against Big West opponents.

In the first two meetings this season, UCI out-blocked UCSD 21-10 and out-aced the Tritons 12-5.

In La Jolla, UC Irvine hit .490 (56-8-98), the second best offensive performance of the year. Karl Apfelbach led the Anteaters with 15 kills, while Scott Stadick hit .667 (12-0-18) and added five blocks.

In Irvine, UCSD's Collin Shannon had a match-high 21 kills, while hitting .500 (21-4-34). Aaron Koubi paced the Anteaters with 17 kills and a .469 (17-2-32) hitting percentage. Joel Schneidmiller recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs to go with four aces.

Over the first nine sets with the Tritons, UCI had balanced offensive production with Aaron Koubi and Karl Apfelbach leading the way with a 2.67 kill average. Joel Schneidmiller averaged 2.44 kills and Scott Stadick averaged 2.22 kills.

VERSUS THE REST OF THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: This season, UCI went 0-2 against Hawaii, 0-2 versus Long Beach State, 2-0 versus UC Santa Barbara and 1-1 against CSUN.

BY THE NUMBERS: UCI enters the tournament with a 17-10 overall, riding a three-match winning streak.

The Anteaters finished in third place with a 5-5 league record.
UCI is 6-3 at home, 9-7 on the road and 2-0 on a neutral court.
 
The Anteaters are 5-5 in three set matches, 8-4 in four sets and 4-1 in five sets.
 
COMING IN HOT: UCI won the last three matches, including beating No. 3 UC Santa Barbara twice to end the regular season.
 
In that span, UCI hit .376 (160-39-322), while averaging 13.3 kills, 1.7 aces. 2.8 blocks and 9.5 digs.
 
ALL-BIG WEST HONORS: Four Anteaters were named to All-Big West teams, highlighted by first team honorees Joel Schneidmiller and Karl Apfelbach.

Scott Stadick was named honorable mention, while Alexandre Nsakanda was selected to the All-Freshman team.
 
SCHNEIDMILLER SHINES
Outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller has had an impressive sophomore campaign. He leads the league in service aces and is ranked fourth nationally with a 0.55 average. He is second in the Big West in points (4.56), third in kills (3.71) as well as sixth in hitting percentage (.326).
 
The sophomore, who missed six matches with an arm injury, has led UCI in kills on 14 occasions, including a career-high 28 kills versus Loyola which are the most in the league this season.
 
He returned to the court last week versus the Gauchos and led the squad in both matches, averaging 4.43 kills over seven sets.
 
AT THE PINS: Along with Schneidmiller, UCI features three potent offensive players. Opposite Karl Apfelbach averages 2.94 kills and 3.75 points, which rank 10^th and eighth respectively in the conference. He is sixth in service aces with a 0.40 mark, moving in to 10^th all-time in UCI aces with 89 currently. The senior opposite also ranks eighth among Big West players in hitting percentage at .306.
 
Graduate student Aaron Koubi is third on the team with a 2.64 average. He had a season-high 21 kills in the second meeting with CSUN. The outside hitter also averages 1.49 digs.
 
Alexandre Nsakanda has supplied some fireworks in his initial campaign with the lefty putting away a career-high 14 kills versus BYU. He has played in 55 sets and is averaging 2.64 kills.

AT THE NET: UCI is second in the Big West in blocks with a 2.36 average. The Anteaters have out-blocked their opponent 18 times this season, including each of the last four matches.
 
UCI holds the top to marks in the conference with a league leading 15.5 blocks against Concordia on Jan. 25 and 15 versus Stanford on Jan. 17.
 
Middle blocker Scott Stadick is second in the Big West with a 1.18 average  The junior ranks third in UCI career solo blocks with 71.
 
Patrick Sohacki has started the last five matches and has made the most of his time averaging 1.30 blocks and 1.70 kills in that span. He had a career-high nine total block versus CSUN
 
OFFENSIVE EFFICENCY: The Anteaters rank third in the league in hitting percentage at .319. UCI has recorded a .400 or better night four times this year, including a season's best .500 (42-6-72) versus Princeton.
 
The Anteaters rank seventh nationally in assists (12.20) and kills (12.86).
 
IN THE RANKINGS: UCI is No. 9 in the national rankings without a new ranking this week to reflect the last two wins. The Anteaters were as high as No. 2 for one week and spent seven weeks at No. 3 this year.
 
THE QUARTERBACK: Setter Dante Chakravorti is third in the Big West in set assists with a 9.89 average. The junior also averages 1.39 digs. The setter ranks fifth in UCI career set assists list with 3,263.
 
THE SCOOP: Libero David Parker is third in digs among Big West players with a 2.38 average. He has recorded digs in double figures 11 times, including a season-high 17 digs twice.
 
FROM THE SERVICE LINE: Joel Schneidmiller leads the club with 44 aces followed by Karl Apfelbach with 38. Both Schneidmiller (Princeton) and Apfelbach (UCSB) have fired a season-high five aces in a match in 2019. Aaron Koubi has added 11 aces, while freshmen Alexandre Nsakanda and Jonny Bowles each have nine on the year.
 
MORE BIG WEST HONORS:  UCI received several weekly honors from the Big West led by Joel Schniedmiller who was named Big West Player of the Week three times. Sophomore Patrick Sohacki claimed Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors, his first career weekly accolade on Apr. 8.
 
AGAINST THE NATION'S BEST: The 'Eaters have won 11 matches against teams currently ranked in the AVCA top 15 as well as all three teams receiving votes. Six of those 11 wins were on the road.
 
UCI swept the season series with No. 3 UC Santa Barbara to end the regular season. The Anteaters won a match against No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 5 Southern California, No. 7 Lewis, No. 8 Stanford, No. 10 Loyola-Chicago, No. 11 CSUN, No. 12 BYU, No. 13 Concordia and No. 15 Grand Canyon.
 
UCI is one of three teams to beat BYU in Provo this season (Hawaii, McKendree).