LA JOLLA, Calif. – No. 5 UC Irvine opened the Big West schedule with a 3-0 victory (25-19, 25-19, 25-19) over No. 18 UC San Diego at LionTree Arena.

The Anteaters, who have won five in a row, hit .468 (45-8-79), the second-best offensive performance of the season.

Setter Brett Sheward controlled the offense, guiding the Anteaters to their third .400 or better hitting percentage of the year. The grad student recorded 34 set assists, five digs, a kill, an ace and a block assist.

Outside hitter Hilir Henno was once again impressive, hitting .552 with 18 kills on 29 attempts and just two errors. He had three digs, a block assist and an ace.

The middle blockers were productive with Maxim Grigoriev hitting .667 (9-1-12) and Connor Campbell hitting .462 (8-2-13).

UCI improves to 11-4 overall and 1-0 in the Big West.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Libero Cole Power tied his season-high with a match-best 13 digs. UCI held a 31-22 advantage in digs
>Junior William D'Arcy totaled six kills and five digs
>Outside hitter Akhil Tangutur pitched in three kills, an ace and three digs
>The Anteaters had five aces, while the Tritons did not record a winner from the service line
>For the second consecutive match, UCI has had a season-low three blocks. UCSD logged 3.5 blocks
>UCSD's Josh Schellinger had a match-high 17 kills

FIRST SET
>UCI used a block by Connor Campbell and kills by Campbell and Hilir Henno to take a 4-1 lead
>Leading 8-7, three consecutive kills, one by Grigoriev and two by Henno increased the lead to 11-7
>A service ace by William D'Arcy helped UCI to an 18-14 lead
>Campbell bounced a kill straight down, Sheward had an ace and Henno slapped down an overpass to get to set point, 24-17
>Henno would have the set-winner, 25-19

SECOND SET
>Four straight UCI points on kills by Campbell and D'Arcy and two Triton attack errors opened up the set 13-9
>A 4-1 spurt by UCSD moved the Tritons within one, 15-14
> Three consecutive kills by Henno created some separation, 22-18
>A soft tip by Henno would hit the floor to end the set, 25-19

THIRD SET
>A kill by Maxim Grigoriev and two UCSD attack errors helped the Anteaters out to a quick 3-1 lead
>A kill by Akhil Tangutur plus a service ace by Henno increased the margin, 7-3
>The Tritons would chip away and catch the Anteaters at 11-11. Following a UCI timeout, two UC San Diego errors pushed UCI back in front 13-11
>Henno dropped the ball in between a circle of on-looking Tritons then Campbell had a solo block to give the Anteaters the 20-17 advantage
>UCSD would creep to 20-19, before UCI would score the final five points. A Triton attack error bookended kills by Henno, Tangutur and Campbell, 25-19

NOTES
>Henno is one ace shy of tying Michael Saeta for second all-time in UCI aces. Henno has 160
>It's the fifth sweep of the season for UCI and third in a row

UP NEXT
The two teams tangle again Sunday (Mar. 3) at 6:00 p.m. at Crawford Court.