Box Score IRVINE, Calif. – Seniors Joel Schneidmiller and Scott Stadick each tied career-highs to lead UCI to a 3-2 victory (25-21, 23-25, 21-25, 25-21, 17-15) over UC San Diego in the Big West opener at the Bren Events Center Thursday.

The Anteaters (1-4) were dominant at the net, recording a season-high 18.5 blocks to UCSD's 5.5. The Tritons drop to 0-5.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Stadick tied his career-high with 12 total blocks on one solo and a career-matching 11 assists. He posted nine kills and four digs. His 12 total blocks and 11 block assists are the most in the country this year
>Schneidmiller matched his career-high with 28 kills to lead all players. The 28 kills are second most in the country this season. He also tied his career-best with seven block assists. The outside hitter did it all, recording two aces and five digs
>Freshman Dylan Zhai quarterbacked the Anteaters with a career-high 51 set assists, 10 digs and seven block assists
>Middle blocker Patrick Vorenkamp totaled a career-best six total blocks (1 solo, 5 assisted)
>Freshman Cole Gillis pitched in six kills and seven digs, while Francesco Sani had eight kills and three block assists
>Ryan Ka led the Tritons in kills with 19 followed by Kyle McCauley with 14 and Shane Benetz with 11. Ka also had a match-best 11 digs

COACH DAVID KNIFFIN SAID
On Joel Schneidmiller's performance
"Joel has developed in to an all-around player. He has taken responsibility from the service line, passing,and he is getting better in the defensive game. In terms of shot selection, he is a completely different player in year four than when he walked in to the gym. His improvement in this league has put himself in a position to do what he did tonight more often.

On Scott Stadick
"If you know Scott he is one of the hardest workers, super bright, studies the game and has a good old fashioned work ethic. It's easy to say he is 7-feet tall, but Scott is a great blocker because he works and he thinks."

SET ONE
>UCI started with a kill by Scott Stadick and an ace by Jonny Bowles
>The Anteaters went on a 6-1 run which was started with a kill out of the back row by Schneidmiller and included two kills by Francesco Sani and two Triton attack errors, 9-4
>UCSD would close to 17-15, but a kill by Schneidmiller and a block by Stadick and Dylan Zhai gave UCI some breathing room, 20-16
> Schneidmiller's seventh kill of the set ended it, 25-21
>The Anteaters hit a season-high .583 (15-1-24)

SET TWO
>UC San Diego jumped out to an early 6-2 lead
>UCSD scored four in a row including an ace by Blake Crisp to increase the lead, 11-4
>Another 3-0 run by UCSD pushed the score to 19-11
>Back-to-back blocks by Stadick, Vorenkamp and Zhai tried to spark the Anteaters, 19-13
>A 5-0 run which included two more blocks, one a solo by Stadick and two Triton attack errors pulled UCI within 22-21
>Kills by Stadick and Schneidmiller tied the set at 23 all
>The Tritons would use a UCI service error and attack error to steal the set. 25-23

SET THREE
>Four aces helped UCSD start with a 8-3 lead
>Stadick and Schneidmiller tried to get UCI back in to it with a kill by each, an ace by the outside hitter and block together, 9-7
>A 6-1 spurt by UC San Diego put them back in control, 15-8
>UCI answered with a 6-2 run of their own to close within 18-15
>UC San Diego would score three of the final five points to win 25-20

SET FOUR
>The first three points of the set went to the Tritons then they extended the lead to 7-1 on the strength of two more aces
>UCI caught fire, going on a 9-2 run to take its first lead of the set 10-9 on a block by Stadick and Zhai
>A triple block by Schneidmiller, Sani and Vorenkamp was followed by a Triton attack error, 15-12
>Three consecutive UCSD kills knotted the score at 15-15
>A kill by Cole Gillis and a UCSD attack error forced a Triton timeout 20-18
>The Anteaters would not relinquish the lead as Schneidmiller hammed home the final two points, 25-21
>Another impressive offensive performance by UCI, hitting .476 (11-1-21), while UCSD hit .030 (12-11-33)

SET FIVE
>Two UCSD attack errors were quickly followed by two kills, 2-2
>UCI would trail 9-7 then had two kills by Schneidmiller to tie it up at 9-9
>The teams would trade points until a kill by Schneidmiller was followed by a Vorenkamp solo block and Triton ball-handling error to give UCI the 17-15 victory

NOTES
>Stadick's 11 block assists are tied for ninth best in a match at UCI
>Schneidmiller extended his streak of matches with an ace to seven dating back to last season
>The Tritons out-dug the Anteaters (46-41), but UCI's Jonny Bowles had a career-high nine digs in just three sets
>UCI out-hit UCSD .319-152

UP NEXT
The same two teams will square off tomorrow in La Jolla at the RIMAC Arena. First serve is 5:00 p.m. on ESPN3.