THIS WEEK 
Concordia vs UC Irvine
Friday, Feb. 18 | 7:00 PM | Bren Events Center
Stats    Watch: ESPN+

FIRST SERVE
UCI will host its final MPSF opponent, entertaining Irvine neighbor Concordia Friday (Feb. 18) at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center in the lone match of the week.

The two teams will meet next on March 5 at Concordia. It will be UCI's next contest, but the Eagles will play seven matches before seeing the Anteaters again.
 
STORYLINES
The Eagles are 5-0 overall and coming off a 3-2 win over then-No. 13 UC San Diego on Feb. 4.

The Anteaters and Eagles last meet in 2020. UCI won the first two meetings, 3-1 then Concordia took the last contest 3-1 at home. Alexandre Nsakanda shared the team lead with 16 kills in the last outing with CUI.

UCI is overall 4-8 overall.

The Anteaters have played five teams in the Top 15, pushing four of them to five sets and beating the other.

UCI is sixth in the nation in attendance.

UCI went 1-1 last week, losing the first meeting with then-No. 5 Pepperdine, 3-0 then putting away the Waves, 3-1 at the Bren Center.

HENNO CLAIMS ANOTHER WEEKLY AWARD
Hilir Henno claimed his third Big West Freshman of The Week award after leading UCI to an upset over Pepperdine last week.

The opposite topped UCI with 15 kills, two aces, three digs and three total blocks (2 solo) against the Waves. He had a key solo block and kill to give UCI match point in the fourth set. After losing the first set, Henno recorded five kills in the second set to get the Anteater offense going.

In the first meeting with the Waves in Malibu, he led UCI with 13 kills, hitting .450 (13-4-20). He also totaled three digs and five blocks.

For the week, the opposite averaged 4.00 kills, 5.00 points, 1.14 blocks and 0.86 blocks per set.

MORE HENNO
Henno ranks fifth in the Big West in kills (3.41), fourth in aces (0.48) and points (4.26), sixth in digs (1.70) and 12^th in in hitting percentage (.280). He is 16^th in points nationally and 22^nd in kills.

He has led the Anteaters in kills on five occasions.

SUCCESS IN THE CLASSROOM
The Big West announced its 2021 Commissioner's Honor Roll list with UC Irvine placing 182 student-athletes, including 11 men's volleyball players.

Doug Dahm, Cole Gillis, Davis Lau and Akhil Tangutur earned Highest Honors, Jonny Bowles, Conner Dahm, Gustavo Gomes, Alexandre Nsakanda and Francesco Sani garnered With Honors, while Patrick Vorenkamp and Aiden Wolf-Nielsen landing on the Honor Roll.

SANI LEADS
Outside hitter Francesco Sani ranks third in the Big West in kills (3.67) and fifth in points (4.19).

The sophomore, who has topped the squad in kills seven times, is 14^th nationally in kills and 19^th in points.

His 24 kills versus Stanford are second most in the conference this season.

ZHAI RUNNING THE SHOW
Sophomore Dylan Zhai is averaging 9.19 set assists, which ranks fourth among Big West players. He is 11^th in the Big West in digs with a 1.48 mark.

Last week, Zhai had 43 set assists versus the Waves which is the fifth most this season among Big West setters.

COUNTING ON COLE
Outside hitter Cole Gillis put away a season-high 12 kills in the win over Pepperdine, while adding two aces and four digs.

On the season, Gillis is averaging 1.94 kills and 1.00 digs. He is third on the team in aces with 10.

The sophomore posted double-digit kills four ties, including one double-double versus BYU.

IN THE MIDDLE
Connor Campbell ranks third in the Big West and 20^th nationally in blocking (1.02).

The sophomore hit .833 (5-0-6) in the first meeting with Pepperdine then hit .533 (9-1-15) in the second meeting.

Doug Dahm had a career best eight total blocks in the first meeting versus Pepperdine. He is averaging 0.70 blocks per set.