THIS WEEK
No. 5 UCLA vs No. 7 UC Irvine
Wednesday, Jan. 31 | 7:00 PM | Bren Events Center
Live Stats  ESPN

No. 7 UC Irvine at No. 5 UCLA
Friday, Feb. 2 | 7:00 PM | Pauley Pavilion
Live Stats  Watch

FIRST SERVE
No. 7 UCI will entertain No. 5 UCLA Wednesday (Jan. 31) at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center. The two teams will head up the 405 freeway and meet again Friday (Feb. 2) at 7:00 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.

STORYLINES
UCI is riding a five-match winning streak and is 5-1 overall. The Anteaters stayed at No. 7 in the national rankings.

The Anteaters beat then-No. 8 BYU twice last week, 3-1 on the first night and 3-2 on the second.

The Bruins, who are 6-2 overall, dropped from No. 2 in the country to No. 5 after losing to UC Santa Barbara, 2-3 at home last week before beating UC San Diego, 3-0 on the road.

UCI has dropped the last six meetings against UCLA with the Bruins winning a pair of 3-1 contests last season.

In the first meeting with UCLA at the Bren Center in 2023, UCI hit a season-low .150 and was out-blocked 10.5-7. Hilir Henno led the Anteaters with 14 kills and three aces, while Alex Knight paced the Bruins with 15 kills, seven digs, two aces and three block assists.

In Westwood, the UCLA middles would hit .700 (22-1-30) with just one error, led by Merrick McHenry's 15 kills. As a team, the Bruins hit .415 (54-10-106). Henno once again led the Anteaters with a match-best 17 kills.

UCI's last win over UCLA came on April 15, 2017 with a 3-1 victory at home.

The Bruins lead the country in hitting percentage (.384) and are fourth in blocks (2.897).

LAST WEEK REWIND
In the first meeting with BYU, UCI out-served the Cougars with a 9-2 ace advantage led by Conner Dahm's career-high four. UCI had a season-high 60 kills which are sixth most by a Big West team this season and a season-high 41 digs, fifth best in the Big West. Hilir Henno lead all players with a season-high 20 kills, hitting .500 (20-1-38) followed by Maxim Grigoriev with a career-high 16 kills and 10 digs with four total blocks (1 solo, 3 assisted).

The Anteaters rejected a season-high 17 blocks in the second meeting. The 17 blocks are second most in the Big West and tied for third most in the country this season. Middle blocker Connor Campbell had a match and season-high eight total blocks (1 solo, seven assisted), Nolan Flexen led the team with in the second meeting.with 18 kills.

NATIONAL STATISTICS
UCI ranks fifth in blocks (2.79) and assists (11.92) and are eighth in kills (12.38).

Hilir Henno is first in the Big West and fifth in the country in aces with a .708 average. Henno is seventh nationally in points (4.77) and 11^th in kills (3.75).

Setter Brett Sheward is second in the Big West and seventh in the country in set assists with a 10.04 average. He is also seventh in the Big West in digs (1.61).

Connor Campbell and Maxim Grigoriev are tied for 10^th in the country with a 1.167 block average.