UC Irvine Offense Struggles In 3-0 Loss To USC

Wednesday, January 26

Los Angeles, CA

7:00 p.m.

UC Irvine

3-4,0-0Big West

USC

6-1,0-0MPSF

Team	1	2	3	Final F
UC Irvine	16	20	17	0
Southern California	25	25	25	3

UC Irvine Offense Struggles In 3-0 Loss To USC

January 26, 2022 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Stacey Shackleford

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – No. 14 UC Irvine couldn't get the offense going in a 3-0 loss at No 10 USC (16-25, 20-25, 17-25) Wednesday.

The Anteaters (3-4) hit a season-low .105 (29-21-76) at the Galen Center. USC, who improved to 6-1 overall, hit .397 (39-8-78) and held a 6.5 to 2 block and 5 to 2 ace advantage.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Outside hitter Cole Gillis led UCI with eight kills
>Freshman opposite Hilir Henno had seven kills and outside hitter Francesco Sani added five
>Libero Cole Power had a team-best six digs
>USC was led by Sam Kobrine with 14 kills and Simon Gallas with 11. The duo hit .565 and .455, respectively. Lucas Frassrand hit .889 (8-0-9)

FIRST SET
>USC scored four in a row and jumped out to an early 8-3 lead with three points coming on Anteater errors
>A kill by Francesco Sani got UCI within 8-12
>Back-to-back blocks by USC increased the lead to 18-11
>UCI made a move on a 3-1 run, the last a blast by Cole Gillis, 14-19
>A USC kill and ace ended the set 25-16
>UCI hit just .091 to USC's .526

SECOND SET
>USC service error combined with a block by Connor Campbell and Patrick Vorenkamp gave UCI a 6-4 advantage
>The Trojans would out-score UCI, 6-1 to move in front 10-7
>A USC service error, a kill by Hilir Henno and a Trojan attack error tied the set at 10-10
>A kill by Gillis and a USC attack error put the Anteaters up 14-13
>The teams would trade points until USC scored three in a row, 20-18
>A Henno kill was followed by four straight points by the Trojans to close out the set, 25-20

THIRD SET
>Henno started the set with a kill, but USC would score six unanswered, 6-1
>Three straight UCI errors forced a timeout by head coach David Kniffin, 7-14
>USC would roll to a 25-17 victory
>A bright spot for the Anteaters were four kills by Akhil Tangutur and two by Alexandre Nsakanda

NOTES
>It is USC's third win the last 11 meetings
>Two blocks are a season-low for UCI
>Setter Patrick Vorenkamp returned to the starting lineup, totaling 18 set assists, two digs and a block
>UCI led in digs 25-24

UP NEXT
The two teams will meet again Friday in Irvine. First serve at the Bren Events Center at 7:00 p.m.