THIS WEEK
Big West Championship
SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center

No. 5 seed UC Irvine vs No. 4 seed UC San Diego
Thursday, Apr. 21 | 7:30 PM PT
Live Stats   ESPN+

Semifinal |  Friday, Apr. 22 | 7:30 PM PT
Final |  Saturday, Apr. 23 | 10:30 PM PT

FIRST SERVE
No. 14 UC Irvine is the fifth-seed for the Big West Championship and will begin the quest against fourth-seed UC San Diego at 7:30 p.m. PT
 
The winner will advance to a semifinal match against top-seeded Long Beach State at 7:30 p.m. PT Friday. The championship will be held Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PT.
 
STORYLINES
UC San Diego, who is ranked 10th in the country, is 13-10 overall and finished with a 5-5 league record.
 
UCI is 2-3 in previous Big West Championships with both wins coming in 3-0 victories over the UCSD.
 
UCI's last post-season victory came against the Tritons on Apr. 18, 2019 in the Stan Sheriff Center.  Alexandre Nsakanda and Jonny Bowles were on that team as well as assistant coach David Parker.
 
The Anteaters lead the all-time series with the Tritons, 50-15, but UC San Diego has won the last three outings.
 
UCSD took the season series with a 3-1 victory in La Jolla and a 3-2 win in Irvine.
 
In the two previous meetings, UCSD out-hit UCI .361-275, but UCI held the advantage in blocks (18.5-13) and aces (10-9).
 
Freshman Hilir Henno led UCI in the first match with 16 kills. After Henno injured his hand late in the match and having to sit out the next match, Francesco Sani moved over to opposite and promptly had a career-high 28 kills, the second most in the Big West this season.
 
The Anteaters captured MPSF championship titles in 2015, 2012 and 2007.   
 
VERSUS THE REST OF THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: This season, UCI went 1-1 versus Long Beach State, 0-2 against Hawaii, 0-2 versus UC Santa Barbara and 2-0 against CSUN.

BY THE NUMBERS
UCI enters the tournament with a 10-15 overall record.

The Anteaters finished in fifth place with a 3-7 league record.

UCI is 7-6 at home, 2-9 on the road and 1-0 on a neutral court.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
UCI ranks 10th in assists (11.78), 17th in kills (12.23) and 12th in blocks (2.25)
nationally.
 
Francesco Sani is ninth in points (4.74) and 10^th in kills (4.08), while Hilir Henno is 10^th in aces (0.51).
 
SANI SPOTLIGHT
Francesco Sani is second in the Big West in kills (4.08) and third in points (4.74).

Sani has moved to opposite the last seven matches, putting away 28 kills against UC San Diego, the second most in the league then totaled 26 kills versus UC Santa Barbara, tied for third most in the conference this season. He also owns the fifth best mark by a Big West player with 24 kills against Stanford and Hawaii last week.
 
The sophomore has recorded kills in double-figures in all but three matches in 2022, including the last 15 straight. He posted 20 or more kills seven times and had one double-double.
 
He has recorded at least one ace in seven of the last eight matches and had a career-high four in the versus George Mason.
 
HELLO HENNO
Freshman Hilir Henno has made a big impact in his first season. The lefty ranks fifth in the Big West in points (4.27), seventh in kills (3.44), sixth in digs (1.73).
 
He ranks 10^th in the country in aces with a 0.51 mark and is just three aces shy of breaking into the top 10 in the UCI season records. Zack La Cavera sits in 10th with 44 in 2015. Henno fired four or more aces on four occasions, including a career-high six against Long Beach State.
 
Henno has put away kills in double-digits16 times this season, including a career-high 22 against Stanford. He has been named Big West Freshman of the Week five times as well as Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week once each.
 
AT THE NET
UCI had a season-high 16 blocks in the regular season finale against Hawaii which are tied for third most by a Big West team this season.
 
Aiden Wolf-Nielsen is averaging 1.27 blocks per set. He had a career-high 10 total blocks versus Hawaii, tied for second most this season in the Big West.
 
Doug Dahm is averaging 0.87 blocks per game, recording four blocks in each of the last three matches. He has logged at least one block in all 25 matches this season.