Photo by: Regents of the University of California
Black & Blue Clash To End Regular Season
April 12, 2023 | Men's Volleyball
THIS WEEK
No. 5 UC Irvine at No. 4 Long Beach State
Friday, Apr. 14 | 7:00 PM | Walter Pyramid
Live Stats Watch
No. 4 Long Beach State at No. 5 UC Irvine
Saturday, Apr. 15 | 5:00 PM | Bren Events Center
Live Stats Watch
FIRST SERVE
No. 5 UC Irvine will play No. 4 Long Beach State this week in a pair of matches that will determine seeding for the Big West Championship.
The series will start Friday (Apr. 14) at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach. First serve is 7:00 p.m. The teams will head to Irvine Saturday (Apr. 15) for a 5:00 p.m. match at the Bren Events Center. UCI will honor Cole Gillis and Doug Dahm who will be graduating in June following the match.
UC Irvine will host 2023 OUTRIGGER Big West Men's Volleyball Championship, presented by The Hawaiian Islands Apr. 20-22 at the Bren Events Center. The top two seeds get a bye into the semifinals Friday.
STORYLINES
Entering the week, UCI is third in the Big West with a 6-2 record, while Hawaii and Long Beach sit atop the standings at 7-1.
UCI can finish no lower than third as UC San Diego is fourth with a 2-6 league record.
UCI is 16-8 overall. The Anteaters six Big West wins are the most since they were 6-4 in 2018. In 2017, the squad was 13-5 in league action.
The Anteaters are 8-3 at the Bren Center and 6-5 on the road.
UCI lost twice at Hawaii last week, falling 3-1 on the first night and 3-0 on the second. The Anteaters were out-blocked 18.0-6.5 over the two losses.
Long Beach State is 18-3 overall, riding a six-match winning streak.
The Beach leads the nation in blocking 2.82 and is third in hitting percentage (.351).
Last week, The Beach escaped with a five-set victory at CSUN then swept the Matadors at home.
Long Beach State is 10-1 at home and 7-2 on the road.
Long Beach State's Clarke Godbold and Mason Briggs garnered Big West Offensive and Defensive Player of the week honors, respectively.
Last year, the teams split a pair of matches in the regular season. UCI had a 3-2 reverse sweep at home then dropped a 3-0 contest on the road. LBSU also won a 3-1 decision in the semifinals of the Big West Championship on a neutral court in Honolulu, HI.
UCI is ranked fourth in the country in aces with a 1.87 average per set. They are also ninth in hitting percentage (.328), seventh in assists (11.91), eighth in kills (12.51) and 15th in blocks (2.16).
The Anteaters and The Beach each have two of the top four hitting percentages in the Big West. UCI owns the top mark with a .592 performance at Concordia and third with a .542 performance at UC San Diego.
UCI shares the top spot for most digs in a match with 61 and claims the top mark in aces, firing 13 three times, against Pepperdine, Penn State and UC Santa Barbara.
CHASING HISTORY
Sophomore Hilir Henno has 78 service aces and sits in second in the NCAA record book for aces in a season. He is 22 shy of the NCAA record holder Curtis Abram from Emmanuel who had 100 in 2011.
Henno, who already holds the UCI season record, leads the nation with a .963 average.
Currently, he has 123 in his career which is fourth all-time at UCI, five shy of former All-American Jayson Jablonsky's (2004-07) third place spot. Carson Clark holds the all-time record with 183 from 2009-2012.
He set the UCI match record for aces earlier this year with nine against Penn State, which is tied for the most in the country this season.
The lefty has totaled five or more aces seven times this season.
The sophomore is also 11th in the nation in points (4.46). He is sixth in the Big West in kills (3.27) and hitting percentage (.299) and 14th in digs (1.51).
SENIOR SALUTE
UCI will celebrate Cole Gillis and Doug Dahm who will be graduating in June.
Gillis, a political science major, ranks fourth in the Big West and 27th nationally in hitting percentage (.338). He has the top hitting mark in the NCAA with a minimum of 20 attempts, knocking down an .800 (16-0-20) clip at Concordia.
The outside hitter ranks 12th in both kills (2.60) and points (3.13) among Big West players. He had 12 double-digit kill performances this season and is third in aces with 23. His career-best 18 kills came against LBSU in 2022 and career-high 13 digs versus The Beach in 2021.
Dahm, is one the most versatile players in UCI history. He started his career at the pin, totaling a career-best 14 kills versus Long Beach State in 2021. The mechanical engineering moved to the middle last season and has been a force at the net. He rejected a career-high seven block assists three times in his career and a posted a personal best eight total blocks versus George Mason in 2022.
SANI SOARS
Francesco Sani leads the Big West in kills per set (4.04) which is seventh nationally and is second in the conference sixth in the country in points (4.78). The junior ranks fifth in the Big West in hitting percentage (.334).
Sani owns five of the top 12 kill performances by a Big West player this season. He is tied for fourth with a career-high 26 against BYU. His 23 kills versus CSUN are second most in a three-set match nationally.
He is second on the team with 36 aces.
No. 5 UC Irvine at No. 4 Long Beach State
Friday, Apr. 14 | 7:00 PM | Walter Pyramid
Live Stats Watch
No. 4 Long Beach State at No. 5 UC Irvine
Saturday, Apr. 15 | 5:00 PM | Bren Events Center
Live Stats Watch
FIRST SERVE
No. 5 UC Irvine will play No. 4 Long Beach State this week in a pair of matches that will determine seeding for the Big West Championship.
The series will start Friday (Apr. 14) at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach. First serve is 7:00 p.m. The teams will head to Irvine Saturday (Apr. 15) for a 5:00 p.m. match at the Bren Events Center. UCI will honor Cole Gillis and Doug Dahm who will be graduating in June following the match.
UC Irvine will host 2023 OUTRIGGER Big West Men's Volleyball Championship, presented by The Hawaiian Islands Apr. 20-22 at the Bren Events Center. The top two seeds get a bye into the semifinals Friday.
STORYLINES
Entering the week, UCI is third in the Big West with a 6-2 record, while Hawaii and Long Beach sit atop the standings at 7-1.
UCI can finish no lower than third as UC San Diego is fourth with a 2-6 league record.
UCI is 16-8 overall. The Anteaters six Big West wins are the most since they were 6-4 in 2018. In 2017, the squad was 13-5 in league action.
The Anteaters are 8-3 at the Bren Center and 6-5 on the road.
UCI lost twice at Hawaii last week, falling 3-1 on the first night and 3-0 on the second. The Anteaters were out-blocked 18.0-6.5 over the two losses.
Long Beach State is 18-3 overall, riding a six-match winning streak.
The Beach leads the nation in blocking 2.82 and is third in hitting percentage (.351).
Last week, The Beach escaped with a five-set victory at CSUN then swept the Matadors at home.
Long Beach State is 10-1 at home and 7-2 on the road.
Long Beach State's Clarke Godbold and Mason Briggs garnered Big West Offensive and Defensive Player of the week honors, respectively.
Last year, the teams split a pair of matches in the regular season. UCI had a 3-2 reverse sweep at home then dropped a 3-0 contest on the road. LBSU also won a 3-1 decision in the semifinals of the Big West Championship on a neutral court in Honolulu, HI.
UCI is ranked fourth in the country in aces with a 1.87 average per set. They are also ninth in hitting percentage (.328), seventh in assists (11.91), eighth in kills (12.51) and 15th in blocks (2.16).
The Anteaters and The Beach each have two of the top four hitting percentages in the Big West. UCI owns the top mark with a .592 performance at Concordia and third with a .542 performance at UC San Diego.
UCI shares the top spot for most digs in a match with 61 and claims the top mark in aces, firing 13 three times, against Pepperdine, Penn State and UC Santa Barbara.
CHASING HISTORY
Sophomore Hilir Henno has 78 service aces and sits in second in the NCAA record book for aces in a season. He is 22 shy of the NCAA record holder Curtis Abram from Emmanuel who had 100 in 2011.
Henno, who already holds the UCI season record, leads the nation with a .963 average.
Currently, he has 123 in his career which is fourth all-time at UCI, five shy of former All-American Jayson Jablonsky's (2004-07) third place spot. Carson Clark holds the all-time record with 183 from 2009-2012.
He set the UCI match record for aces earlier this year with nine against Penn State, which is tied for the most in the country this season.
The lefty has totaled five or more aces seven times this season.
The sophomore is also 11th in the nation in points (4.46). He is sixth in the Big West in kills (3.27) and hitting percentage (.299) and 14th in digs (1.51).
SENIOR SALUTE
UCI will celebrate Cole Gillis and Doug Dahm who will be graduating in June.
Gillis, a political science major, ranks fourth in the Big West and 27th nationally in hitting percentage (.338). He has the top hitting mark in the NCAA with a minimum of 20 attempts, knocking down an .800 (16-0-20) clip at Concordia.
The outside hitter ranks 12th in both kills (2.60) and points (3.13) among Big West players. He had 12 double-digit kill performances this season and is third in aces with 23. His career-best 18 kills came against LBSU in 2022 and career-high 13 digs versus The Beach in 2021.
Dahm, is one the most versatile players in UCI history. He started his career at the pin, totaling a career-best 14 kills versus Long Beach State in 2021. The mechanical engineering moved to the middle last season and has been a force at the net. He rejected a career-high seven block assists three times in his career and a posted a personal best eight total blocks versus George Mason in 2022.
SANI SOARS
Francesco Sani leads the Big West in kills per set (4.04) which is seventh nationally and is second in the conference sixth in the country in points (4.78). The junior ranks fifth in the Big West in hitting percentage (.334).
Sani owns five of the top 12 kill performances by a Big West player this season. He is tied for fourth with a career-high 26 against BYU. His 23 kills versus CSUN are second most in a three-set match nationally.
He is second on the team with 36 aces.
Players Mentioned
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