LONG BEACH, Calif. – No. 5 UC Irvine hit a season-low .110 in a 3-0 loss at No. 4 Long Beach State (18-25, 19-25, 22-25) in the Walter Pyramid.

The Anteaters (16-9, 6-3) had a season-low 29 kills in the loss and were out-blocked 11.5-6.5. Long Beach State also had 7 aces to UCI's 3. The Beach (19-3, 8-1) wasn't overpowering offensively, hitting .276 (32-11-76).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Outside hitter Hilir Henno led UCI with 11 kills and seven digs. He also added an ace and block assist
>Opposite Francesco Sani had seven kills, only the second time he failed to reach double-digits this season
>Middle blocker Connor Campbell hit .800 (4-0-5) with a team-best four total blocks
>Outside hitter Cole Gillis totaled six kills, two aces and a block assist
>For the third consecutive match, libero Cole Power recorded eight digs
>LBSU's Sotiris Siapanis led all players with 12 kills, nine digs and two aces followed by Spencer Oliviers eight kills on 12 swings (.667)

FIRST SET
>LBSU had three kills by Sotiris Siapanis, followed by an ace and a block to take a 7-2 lead
>The Beach led 12-6 before UCI rallied on four straight including a kill and ace by Henno and a solo block by Connor Campbell, 10-12
>A kill by Doug Dahm and a LBSU attack error helped the Anteaters close to 14-16 before The Beach went on a 4-1 run to regain control
>Long Beach would win the set 25-18 as UCI hit .000 (8-8-26)

SECOND SET
>UCI jumped out to an early 6-4 lead on a kill by Hilir Henno and an ace by Cole Gillis
>The lead was short lived as The Beach scored the next two
>Long Beach would take a 17-14 lead then UCI used a kill by Francesco Sani, a block by Sani and Campbell and a Beach player in the net to force a timeout, 17-17
>A pair of kills, two blocks, an ace and a UCI attack that sailed wide put LBSU in front 24-18
>Long Beach would end up scoring seven of the final eight points, the last a UCI service error to win 25-19

THIRD SET
>A kill by Campbell and a LBSU attack error moved UCI in front 5-3
>With UCI leading 12-10, The Beach would score three in a row on Anteater miscues to take a 13-12 advantage
>Four of the next five went LBSU's way to take a 17-14 lead
>Kills by Henno, Campbell and Gillis forced a LBSU timeout, 20-22
>Following a Long Beach kill, UCI kept it interesting using a service error and a Gillis kill, 22-23
>A UCI service error and attack error handed Long Beach State the victory, 25-22

NOTES
>The Anteaters have hit under .200 only one other time this season
>Henno now has 79 aces on the season
>Following tonight's result, UCI is the No. 3 seed for the upcoming Big West Championship
 
UP NEXT
The same two teams will conclude the regular season at the Bren Events Center starting at 5:00 p.m. UCI will honor Cole Gillis, Doug Dahm and Patrick Vorenkamp after the match