IRVINE, Calif. – It took three hours for No. 3 Penn State to beat No. 6 UC Irvine, 3-2 (32-34, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22, 15-11) at the Bren Events Center Sunday.

The Anteaters would lead 2-1, but hit just .020 over the final two sets (16-15-51). The Nittany Lions out-blocked UCI 13.5 to 5, including a 7 to 3 advantage in the final two sets.

Sophomore Hilir Henno was once again impressive from the service line, bettering his own school record with nine aces.  The nine aces are tied for the most in the country this season.

Opposite Francesco Sani led all players with 22 kills while adding seven digs and four block assists. Henno followed with a season-high 20 kills and six digs to go with his nine aces.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Setter Joe Karlous recorded his third double-double of the year with 47 set assists which ties his career-best to go with a career-best 16 digs
>Libero Cole Power totaled a career-high 18 digs, second most by a Big West player this season
>Outside hitter Cole Gillis pitched in 13 kills and two aces
>Middle blocker Max Grigoriev played for the first time since Jan. 27 and made an impact with three kills, an ace, two digs and a block assist
>Penn State was led by Cal Fisher with 14 kills, three aces, nine digs and six total blocks.
>The Nittany Lions hit .311 to UCI's .239, while the Anteaters were tops in aces (13-6) and digs (61-45). 61 digs are the most this season and the 13 aces ties the season-high for UCI.

FIRST SET
>A kill and ace by Cole Gillis helped UCI gain the 7-6 lead
>The Nittany Lions scored four unanswered to take a 13-10 lead
>Back-to-back kills by Gillis and Hilir Henno moved UCI within 15-16
>Consecutive kills by Gillis knotted the score at 20-20
>A Penn State service error was followed by a kill by Sani off the block for set point, 24-23
>A pair of PSU points gave the Nittany Lions the 26-25 advantage
>Each team would have an opportunity to end the set, but they kept trading points until a Gillis kill and Henno ace was followed by a Penn State miscue to give the Anteaters the 34-32 win

SECOND SET
>Penn State expanded a 13-12 lead to 15-12 on a kill and UCI attack error
>A kill by Cal Fisher and an ace by Brett Wildman pushed the PSU lead to 19-16
>A Nittany Lion service error was followed by an ace by Henno to tighten the set, 19-20
>Fisher had a kill and an ace to give PSU a 22-19 cushion
>A pair of Sani kills in a 3-0 UCI run tied the set at 22-22
>A UCI service error and a Nittany Lion block ended the set 25-23

THIRD SET
>UCI would record its first block of the match from Sani and Max Grigoriev to jump out to a 4-1 lead
>Grigoriev would provide an offensive spark as well, rising high for two kills on over-passes, 10-5
>UCI led 11-8 before the Anteaters caught fire behind the serving of Henno, who had four aces in a 7-0 run, 18-8
>The Nittany Lions rallied on three straight (19-12) before Gillis put a kill in the back corner, 20-12
>Henno would crush a kill to give UCI the set 25-18
>UCI hit .440 to Penn State's .259

FOURTH SET
>Henno would tie his own school record with his eighth ace of the match, 2-0
>A 3-1 run put Penn State up 9-8
>A pair of kills and a block moved Penn State out to a 14-10 advantage
>PSU led 17-14 before UCI came alive on a kill by Henno, Nittany Lion attack error, Grigoriev ace and block by William D'Arcy and Connor Campbell to tie the set at 17-17
>Five unanswered by Penn State, two kills and a solo block by Fisher put Penn State in control, 23-18
>UCI would explode for the next four on an ace by Henno, block by Campbell and Sani and a kill by Sani, 23-22
>That was all UCI had as Penn State would score the final two to force a fifth set, 25-22
>UCI hit .000 (10-10-35)

FIFTH SET
>Henno would annihilate a ball to go up 2-1
>A Sani kill put UCI up 4-3 before Penn State scored on a challenge of a net and a kill by Toby Ezeonu on an overpass, 5-4
>A Nittany Lion attack that sailed wide was followed by a kill by Gillis high off hands, 7-6
>Consecutive Anteater attack errors moved Penn State back in front, 8-7
>Three in a row by Penn State, two on UCI errors, gave the Nittany Lions a 12-9 advantage
>Penn State would win the set, 15-11 on an ace by Fisher

NOTES
>Henno ups his ace total to 49 on the year
>Power had his fifth double-digit dig performance of the season
>Karlous' 16 digs are tied for fourth most in the Big West

UP NEXT
UCI will begin Big West play, hosting UC San Diego Friday (Mar. 10) at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.