Friday, April 22
No. 5 UC Irvine vs No. 1 Long Beach State
7:30 p.m. PT
live stats | Spectrum OC16 (Hawai'i) | ESPN+ (mainland)

FIRST SERVE
No. 14 UC Irvine, the fifth-seed for the OUTRIGGER Big West Championship presented by Hawaiian Airlines, will face Black & Blue rival and No. 1 seed Long Beach State at 4:30 p.m. HT at SimpliFi Arena at the Stan Sheriff Center.
  
The winner will advance to title match tomorrow (Apr. 23) at 7:30 p.m. HT. 
  
STORYLINES
UC Irvine upset its fourth Top 10 opponent of the year with a 3-0 sweep of No. 9 UC San Diego in the opening round of the championship tournament.
 
The Anteaters hit a season-high .405 (44-10-84) and were led by opposite Francesco Sani who hit .581 on 19 kills and just one error in 31 swings. He also had six digs and two block assists.
 
UC Irvine out-blocked the Tritons 8.0-3.5 and out-dug the league's best digging team, 29-26.
 
UCI also had impressive performances by Conner Dahm and Alexandre Nsakanda in the final two sets. Dahm, typically a serving specialist, stepped in to play middle when Aiden Wolf-Nielsen went out with an injury, and recorded a kill, a block and two aces. Nsakanda had a kill, ace and block in the victory.
 
UCI evens its Big West Championship record to 3-3 with all three victories coming in 3-0 victories over UCSD.  
 
It is the first time since 2019 that the Anteaters have been in the semifinals. In 2019, they lost 3-0 to Hawaii at the Stan Sheriff Center. Alexandre Nsakanda and Jonny Bowles were on that team as well as assistant coach David Parker. 
 
UCI and Long Beach State met a year ago in the quarterfinals with the Beach prevailing 3-0. Nsakanda led UCI with 11 kills, hitting .429. As a team, LBSU, hit .432 (49-11-88). They out-blocked UCI (7.5-4) and held a 7-1 advantage in aces and 28-18 in digs.  Spencer Olivier topped LBSU with 18 kills.
 
LBSU is ranked No. 3 nationally, winning the regular season with a 19-4 overall record and an 8-2 conference mark.
  
The teams split the 2022 season series 1-1. UCI upset then-No. 2 LBSU, 3-2 at home then fell 3-0 in Long Beach.
 
In the win over the Beach, the Anteaters had the reverse sweep (19-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-22, 15-12) to pick up the Big West opening victory.
 
Sophomore Cole Gillis pounded a career-high 18 kills to lead UCI. He also had six digs, three block assists and an ace in win.

UC Irvine fired a season-high 12 aces led by freshman Hilir Henno with a career-high six. The opposite also had 17 kills.
  
The next night, Long Beach State swept UCI, hitting .316 and holding a 14.5-3.0 advantage at the net. The Anteaters hit a season-low .104 (34-24-96) and after recording a season-high 12 aces the night before, the Anteaters had just one. 
 
The Anteaters currently lead the Black & Blue Rivalry presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach, 17-15. The two schools will meet in the semis of the Big West Women's Water Polo Championship before the volleyball match.
 
The Anteaters captured MPSF championship titles in 2015, 2012 and 2007.  
 
FACTS & FIGURES
UCI is 11-15 overall, winning three of the last five outings.

The Anteaters are 7-6 at home, 2-9 on the road and 2-0 on a neutral court.
 
UCI finished with a 3-7 league record for fifth place
. 
In 2022, the Anteaters have topped four ranked teams (UC San Diego, Long Beach State, Pepperdine, Stanford) and taken six other teams that were ranked in the top 10 to five sets, including three in the current top five (No. 1 UCLA, No. 4 Hawaii, No. 5 USC).
 
UCI is 2-6 in five sets. 
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
UCI ranks 10th in assists (11.84), 15th in kills (12.31) and 12th in blocks (2.26) nationally.  

Francesco Sani is ninth in points (4.80) and eighth in kills (4.15), while Hilir Henno is 13^th in aces (0.49). 

ONES TO WATCH
Sophomore Francesco Sani and freshman Hilir Henno were named to the All-Big West first team with Henno also earning All-Freshman team honors.
 
Henno becomes the first Anteater freshman to earn first team all-conference recognition since Carson Clark in 2009.
 
Sani, who has played at outside then moved to opposite the last eight matches, is second in the Big West and eighth nationally in kills (4.15), ninth in points (4.80) and 11^th in attack attempts (8.61) per set.
 
On the year, he has recorded kills in double figures in all but three matches, including each of the last 14 contests. The sophomore has posted 20 or more kills seven times in 2022.
 
He recorded a career-high 28 kills in the second meeting with UCSD, which is second most by a Big West player this season. The sophomore also holds the fourth spot with 26 kills versus UC Santa Barbara and sixth spot, totaling 24 kills against Hawaii and Stanford. The Bethesda, MD native was named Big West Player of the Week on Apr. 11.
 
Henno has been named Big West Freshman of the Week five times as well as Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week once this season. He ranks 13^th in the country in aces with a 0.49 mark, firing a career-high six versus Long Beach State, which is tied for third most by a conference player. The opposite ranks fifth in the Big West in points (4.24), eighth in kills (3.43) and sixth in digs (1.73). He has put away kills in double-digits 16 times, including a career-high 22 against Stanford. He also leads the team in double-doubles with five, which includes a career-high 19 digs versus Stanford, which are second most by a Big West player this season. He has hit over .300 10 times in 2022 and over .400 in four matches. 
 
Henno is three aces shy of breaking into the top 10 for aces in a season at UCI. He is trying to catch Zack La Cavera (2015) who is 10th at 44. Joel Schneidmiller (2019), Jayson Jablonsky (2007) and Spencer Bemus (2003) are next on the radar at 46.
 
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.
 
The Anteaters have topped opponents at the net 15 times this season, including five of the last six outings.
 
Middle blocker Aiden Wolf-Nielsen is averaging 1.29 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 0.86 blocks per game, recording at least one block in all but one match this season.

Dahm and libero Cole Power are the only Anteaters to play in all 101 sets this season.
 
Doug joined brother Conner on the court last night each as middle blockers.