Anteater Offense Cools Off In 3-1 Loss To UCLA

Friday, February 24

Irvine, CA

7:00 p.m.

UC Irvine

9-4,0-0Big West

UCLA

14-1,2-0MPSF

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UCLA	17	25	25	25	3
UC Irvine	25	23	19	16	1

Anteater Offense Cools Off In 3-1 Loss To UCLA

February 24, 2023 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Stacey Shackleford

IRVINE, Calif. – No. 6 UC Irvine hit a season-low .150 in a 3-1 loss to No. 2 UCLA (25-17, 23-25, 19-25, 16-25) at the Bren Events Center Friday in front of a crowd of 2,411.

The Anteaters (9-4) won the first set, hitting .316 then hit .107 the next two games. The Bruins, who hit .364, out-blocked UCI 10.5-7.

HEAD COACH DAVID KNIFFIN SAID
"It was interesting having the 2013 team here and thinking we couldn't beat BYU in the regular season. So the question is can we continue to improve and get better and the answer is yes, we absolutely can. It's a quick turnaround, but I think we can improve from tonight to Sunday."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Sophomore Hilir Henno led UCI with 14 kills and three aces
>Middle blocker Doug Dahm added six kills and three block assists
>Outside hitter Francesco Sani totaled six kills, snapping a streak of 27 matches with double-figure kills
>Middle blocker Connor Campbell had a team-best four block assists to go with four kills
>Junior Cole Gillis had a match-high nine digs
>UCLA (14-1) had four players with double-figure kills led by Alex Knight's 15 kills, seven digs, two aces and three block assists

FIRST SET
>UCLA led 4-2 before the Anteaters went on a 4-1 run including a kill by Doug Dahm and an ace by Cole Gillis to tie the set at 5s
>Another 4-1 run saw a block by Joe Karlous and Dahm and a kill by Hilir Henno to put UCI up 10-8
>Kills by Dahm and Sani plus a Bruin attack error moved the lead to 14-10
>A Bruin attack error was followed by a pair of aces by Sani and a block by Conner Campbell and Henno, 19-13
>William D'Arcy got in the action with an ace followed by a kill by Henno off the block, 23-16
>A UCLA service and attack error handed UCI the set, 25-17

SECOND SET
>A pair of Henno aces and a kill by Sani gave UCI a 4-1 lead and forced a UCLA timeout
>A kill by Sani and a block by Sani and D. Dahm moved the score to 6-3
>The Bruins would close to 8-7 before UCI had two kills from the middle, one by Campbell and one by D. Dahm, 10-7
>UCLA would score five unanswered to move in front, 14-11
>UCI climbed back in and a block by Sani and Campbell tied it at 15-15
>A kill by Henno and a solo block by Campbell tied the set once again, 17-17
>Two UCI attack errors and kill gave UCLA the 21-19 advantage only to watch UCI rally on kills by Henno and D. Dahm, 21-21
>UCI's final two points of the set would come on UCLA service errors as the Bruins won, 25-23

THIRD SET
>A 4-0 run by the Bruins which included an ace and a block put UCLA on top 8-4
>A couple of Bruins errors closed the UCI deficit to 10-11
>Three in a row by UCLA were followed by two aces from D. Dahm, 13-14
>UCLA answered with five straight to open a 19-13 gap
>The Bruns would close out the set on a kill and ace, 25-19

FOURTH SET
>A Bruin service error and an ace by Henno helped UCI to the early 2-0 lead
>The Anteaters led 5-3 before the Bruins ran off four in a row, including consecutive aces, 7-5
>A dump by Karlous and back-to-back kills from Henno pushed the Anteaters back in front, 8-7
>UCLA led 14-12 then had seven consecutive points to break open the set 21-12
>The Bruins would go on to win, 25-16

NOTES
>UCI honored the 2013 National Championship team before the match
>UCI is one of five teams to take a set off UCLA this season
>The Anteaters had nine aces. UCI has had nine or more aces in each of the last three matches
>Sani has recorded an ace in each of the last 10 matches, while Henno has increased his team lead to 36 on the season

UP NEXT
The two teams will meet again at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday (Feb. 26). First serve is 5:00 p.m.