THIS WEEK 
Emmanuel vs No. 7 UC Irvine  
Friday, Jan. 13 | 7:00 PM | Bren Events Center
Live Stats   Watch: ESPN+ 

FIRST SERVE
No. 7 UC Irvine will start a three-match homestand Friday (Jan. 13) against Emmanuel College at the Bren Events Center. First serve is 7:00 p.m.
 
STORYLINES
UCI started the 2023 season with wins over then-No. 14 Lewis (3-1) and McKendree (3-0).
 
The Anteaters have won the season opener seven of the last eight years.
 
UCI hit .405 over the two matches, including a .412 mark (60-13-114) in the season-opener versus the Flyers.
 
Against McKendree, UCI had 11 aces. Five different Anteaters recorded an ace, led by Hilir Henno's four. UCI leads the Big West with a 2.29 ace average.
 
Emmanuel, who is a member of Conference Carolinas, started the season with a 3-1 victory over Tusculum.
 
Jayden Young and Henrik Westhoff earned Conference Carolinas weekly awards. Young was named the Player of the Week, while Westhoff earned Specialist of the Week honors.

This will be the first meeting with the Lions.
 
The Lions were picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll.
 
The match in Irvine is the first of four matches on the West Coast for Emmanuel.
 
Emmanuel has a son and father coaching duo with James Friddle as the head coach alongside his father and assistant coach John Friddle.

The Anteaters moved up one spot to No. 7 in the national rankings this week.

Following this week's match, UCI will host No. 11 USC on Jan. 18 and Concordia on Jan. 20.

The Anteaters have posted a winning record at home in all but the shortened 2020 season over the last six years.  In 2022, UCI was 7-6 at the Bren, including wins over No. 2 Long Beach State and No. 5 Pepperdine.
 
HENNO RACKS UP AWARDS
Sophomore Hilir Henno was named American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Week as well as Big West Offensive Player of the Week following an impressive performance to start the 2023 season.
 
Henno is the 23^rd Anteater to earn the AVCA distinction and first since Joel Schneidmiller on Jan. 20, 2018. UCI has collected 31 National Player of the Week honors since 1999.
 
The opposite from France averaged 4.43 kills, 6.07 points, 1.29 aces and 1.71 digs per set last week, while hitting .473 to lead UCI to a pair of wins over then-No. 14 Lewis and McKendree in Provo, Utah.
 
Henno had 18 kills, a match-high five aces, four digs, three set assists and two block assists in a win over the Flyers in the season opener then posted a match-high 13 kills and eight digs to go with four more aces against McKendree. He hit .500 (13-1-24) versus the Bearcats which was a career-best. The opposite recorded nine aces over seven sets to total 54 service winners in his career.
 
Henno was honored as the Big West Offensive Player of the Week for the second time in his career. He has been named Defensive Player of the Week and the Freshman of the Week on five occasions.

POWER-FUL ON DEFENSE
Senior Cole Power was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 2.00 digs per set over the first two wins. His 2.00 average is tops in the Big West.

He logged a match-high eight digs in the win over then-No. 14 Lewis then posted six digs versus McKendree. The libero also had three set assists in each match and owned a .971 mark on reception. It is Power's first Big West weekly honor.

SAME OL SANI
Francesco Sani picked up where he left off in 2022 with big numbers in the opening weekend. He leads the Big West in kills with a 4.57 average and in hitting percentage at .474 (32-5-57).
 
He is also averaging 1.29 digs and 0.43 aces which is fifth best in the Big West.
 
The outside hitter opened the year with 22 kills and a .588 attack percentage (22-2-34) against Lewis. The next night, he had 10 kills and three aces versus McKendree.
 
KARLOUS IN COMMAND
Setter Joe Karlous started the first two matches and is averaging 11.00 set assists per game which leads the Big West.
 
The Anteaters lead the league in hitting percentage with a .405 mark. He helped guide UCI to two of the top hitting nights in the Big West. The Anteaters hit .412 against Lewis and .395 versus McKendree.
 
Karlous is also averaging 1.14 digs and has a solo block.
 
MAX IN THE MIDDLE
Freshman Maxim Grigoriev came off the bench in the first match of the season and added three kills on three attempts (1.000) and had two total blocks (1 solo, 1 assisted) in three sets against the Flyers.

The middle blocker made his first career start against McKendree, logging three kills, three digs and a block assist. For the week, the freshman averaged 1.00 kills, 0.83 digs and 0.50 blocks.