THIS WEEK 
No. 6 UC Irvine at No. 10 Stanford
Saturday, Mar. 4 | 3:00 PM | Maples Pavilion
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No. 3 Penn State vs No. 6 UC Irvine
Sunday, Mar. 5 | 5:00 PM | Bren Events Center
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FIRST SERVE
No. 6 UC Irvine will close out the non-conference schedule with a match at No. 10 Stanford on Saturday (Mar. 4) at 3:00 p.m. in Maples Pavilion then a home contest against No. 3 Penn State Sunday (Mar. 5) at 5:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.
 
STORYLINES
UCI is 9-5 overall, dropping two 3-1 matches to No. 2 UCLA last week.
 
The Anteaters are the only team to take a set off the Bruins at home and are the only team other than Penn State to take more than one set off UCLA this season.
 
Outside hitter Hilir Henno led UCI in both matches, putting away 14 kills and three aces in the first meeting and 17 kills and two aces in the second.
 
The Anteaters are 6-5 against MPSF opponents this season.
 
Stanford enters the week with a 9-6 overall record.

Stanford will host CSUN on Friday before entertaining the Anteaters.
 
The Cardinal are coming off a 3-2 loss at USC last Sunday.
 
UCI and Stanford split a pair of matches last year, each winning on their home court.
 
Penn State starts the week 13-1 overall, winning the last seven matches, including the last 12 consecutive sets.
 
The Nittany Lions will visit Concordia on Saturday prior to coming to the Bren Center.
 
Penn State's Tony Ezeonu leads the nation in hitting percentage at .506.
 
UCI was set to host Penn State on March 13, 2020, but the season was canceled the day before.
 
The Anteaters hold an 8-5 series record advantage with PSU winning 3-1 in the last meeting in 2016 at Rec Hall.
 
UCI leads the Nittany Lions 8-5 all-time.

In UCI's first NCAA appearance in 2006, Penn State beat the Anteaters 3-2 in Rec Hall. One of only three losses all-time in NCAA competition for UCI (8-3).

THIS & THAT
A crowd of 2,411 watched UCI take on UCLA last week, the 16th largest crowd in the country this season. The Anteaters had 1,743 fans at the Bren Center on Jan. 27 when they hosted BYU.

UCI is the only school other than Hawaii and BYU to host two of the 20 largest crowds in the nation this season.
 
UCI has averaged 1,337 fans over the first seven home matches of the season.

UCI is fourth in Toughest Schedule based on the opposition's winning percentage.
 
HENNO HYPE
Sophomore Hilir Henno is second in the country in ace average with a .826 mark. He fired a school record eight aces in the second win over Pepperdine, which is tied for third most in the country this year.
 
He has 38 aces on the season and 83 in his career, which is 10^th all-time at UCI.
 
The outside hitter is fourth in the Big West in points (4.25), sixth in kills (3.20) and 11th in digs (1.54).
 
He has recorded double-figure kills nine times this season, including a season-high 18 twice.
 
FROM THE SERVICE LINE
UCI has out-aced the opponent 10 times this season, recording double-digit aces three times.

The Anteaters recorded a season-high 13 aces in the second match with Pepperdine which is tied for the most by a Big West team and is tied for ninth most nationally.
 
10 different Anteaters have recorded an ace this season.

Francesco Sani follows Henno with 21 aces, firing at least one ace in each of the last 11 outings.

Penn State ranks third nationally (2.06) from the service line.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Outside hitter Francesco Sani is third in the Big West and 13th nationally in points (4.55) and is 15^th in the country in kills (3.76) which is third best in the Big West.

The outside hitter put down 26 kills in the second meeting with BYU, tied for 10th most in the nation this season.
 
Middle blocker Doug Dahm is 11th in blocking (1.09), while opposite Cole Gillis is third in the Big West and 13th in the country in hitting percentage (.387).

Gillis' .800 hitting percentage (16-0-20) against Concordia is the best in the country this season for attempts between 16-20.
 
As a team, the Anteaters are 10th in blocks (2.35) and hitting percentage (.319) and 11th in aces (1.75).
 
UCI holds the top mark in the country in a three-set match with a .592 performance versus Concordia.