IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine sophomore Hilir Henno had three aces to own the UCI season ace record in a 3-0 win (25-23, 25-22, 25-20) over UC Santa Barbara at the Bren Events Center Friday.

Henno set the school record with three aces to end the night with 64 and counting. He bettered Michael Seata's 2017 record of 63. The outside hitter, who leads the country in ace average, led the Anteaters with 13 kills, plus added three digs and two block assists.

UC Irvine improves to 4-0 in the Big West and 14-6 overall.

HILIR HENNO ON HIS ACE RECORD
"It was the process of a lot of work. I've been working on my serve over the years. I'm very proud of what has happened."

HEAD COACH DAVID KNIFFIN
"It was a more efficient attacking night for both teams. We still gave away too many points early, but got control faster tonight. I thought a better quality match tonight even though it doesn't feel as close because it went three. It was a good offensive performance and some good serving runs for different guys on both sides.

Hilir's record is a pretty impressive milestone."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Opposite Francesco Sani had 10 kills, seven digs and two block assists
>Setter Joe Karlous posted his second consecutive double-double and sixth of the season with 33 set assists and 11 digs. The junior also totaled two block assists
>Middle blocker Connor Campbell hit .500 on seven kills, two errors and 10 attempts. He also tallied two block assists
>Freshman Maxim Grigoriev had a team-best four block assists to go with five kills
>UCSB had more blocks (8-6) and aces (6-5), but UCI was more efficient offensively, hitting .337 to .239
>The Anteaters also out-dugs the Gauchos, 31-24
>UC Santa Barbara (5-13, 1-4) was led by Nick Amoruso's match-high 14 kills

FIRST SET
>Two kills and an ace gave UCSB an early 3-1 lead
>A 4-1 run by the Anteaters which included three Gauchos
>UCI exploded with five straight, including two blocks by Maxim Grigoriev and Joe Karlous and an ace by Cole Gillis to take a 10-9 lead
>UC Santa Barbara would take advantage of three consecutive Anteater errors to move in front 17-15
>UCI would answer with three of their own helped by kills from Francesco Sani and Gillis, 18-17
>A UCI service error and a kill put UCSB at 20 first, 20-19
>A kill by Grigoriev and a kill by Henno flipped the script, 22-21
>UCI would have three of the next four points on kills by Campbell, Henno and Sani for the set winner, 25-23
>The Gauchos had three aces and 4.5 blocks in the set

SECOND SET
>Henno had a kill on the second touch to give UCI a 5-4 lead
>The Gauchos would take an 11-9 advantage on an ace and kill
>Henno would record a kill then step back to the service line. Campbell would put away a kill before Henno fired an ace, his 62^nd this season, making him the sole season leader at UCI, 13-12
>UC Santa Barbara would momentarily take a 19-18 lead then UCI used a kill by Sani, a block by Henno and Campbell and an ace by Karlous to regain control, 21-19
>The Anteaters would go on to win the set on a Gaucho service error, 25-22

THIRD SET
>UCI came out swinging with two Henno aces and a kill by Sani and Henno, 4-0
>A kill by Campbell was followed by a block by Grigoriev and Sani, 13-8
>Henno continued to put on a show with a no-look over the back kill to extend the lead to 21-16
>Appropriately, Henno would end the night with a kill off the block, 25-20

NOTES
>UCI recorded its eighth sweep of the season
>The Anteaters are 7-3 at home this season
>Sani snapped his consecutive ace streak at 16 matches

UP NEXT
UCI will take the week off for final examinations and will return to action hosting CSUN on Mar. 31 at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.