THIS WEEK
No. 7 UC Irvine at No. 8 BYU
Friday, Jan. 26 | 6:00 PM PT | Smith Fieldhouse
Live Stats
BYU TV

No. 7 UC Irvine at No. 8 BYU
Saturday, Jan. 27 | 6:00 PM PT | Smith Fieldhouse
Live Stats
BYU TV

FIRST SERVE
No. 7 UC Irvine will finally leave the friendly confines of Crawford Hall and travel to No. 8 BYU Friday and Saturday (Jan. 26 & 27) for a pair of 6:00 p.m. PT matches in Smith Fieldhouse.

STORYLINES
The Anteaters are 3-1 overall, winning the last three outings.

BYU enters the week 5-1 overall with the lone loss at Lewis (2-3). The Cougars have a busy week, entertaining Princeton Monday and Tuesday.

Before playing the Princeton matches, BYU has won 16 straight at home.

Last week, the Cougars beat UC Santa Barbara twice. In BYU's last match, the Cougars hit a season-high .455 in a sweep of the Gauchos.

Outside hitter Trent Moser was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Offensive Player of the Week after the wins over UCSB.

UCI and BYU split a pair of matches last season at the Bren Events Center.

In the first meeting, the Anteater block was dominate, rejecting a season-high 13. Eight different UCI players recorded at least one block assist in the win, led by Maxim Grigoriev who stuffed a match and career-high seven block assists.

The Cougars won in five sets the next match, handing UCI its first loss of the 2023 season. It was BYU's turn to dominate the net, posting 22 blocks, the second most in the country last season.

The Anteaters did make a visit to Smith Fieldhouse last season, beating Lewis and McKendree on the neutral court.

The last time UCI visited BYU, the Cougars won twice in 2022.

UCI's last win at BYU was a 3-1 victory on Mar. 9, 2019 in the second match of a pair of contests.

The Anteaters beat the Cougars twice in 2015, snapping the Cougars 36-home match winning streak which dated back to Feb. 1, 2013.

The Anteaters and Cougars have had several memorable matches, including UCI topping BYU 3-0 for the 2013 NCAA title.

BYU leads the all-time series 51-21.

The Anteaters are coming off a 3-0 victory over McKendree. Hilir Henno led UCI with 11 kills and two aces, while Maxim Grigoriev tied his career-high with 10 kills.

Middle blocker Connor Campbell had a team and season-high six block assists against the Bearcats. He hit .714 (5-0-7), the 12^th best offensive performance by a Big West player in 2024.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
UCI is fifth in the country in blocks with a 2.867 mark. The Anteaters rank 10th in hitting percentage (.342) and 14^th in both aces (1.93) and assists (11.53).

Junior Hilir Henno leads the Big West and is third in the country in aces with a .933 average. He is also seventh nationally in points (4.93) and 17^th in kills (3.67).

Opposite Maxim Grigoriev ranks eighth in the country in blocks (1.33), while setter Brett Sheward is 12^th in set assists (9.71). Outside hitter Nolan Flexen ranks 15^th in hitting percentage (.404) and is tied with Henno for 17^th in kills (3.67).