IRVINE, Calif. – No. 5 UC Irvine was strong behind the service line in a 3-0 victory (25-14, 25-22, 25-20) over No. 19 UC Santa Barbara at the Bren Events Center.

The Anteaters held a 9-1 advantage in aces, led by opposite William D'Arcy's career-high four aces. He matched outside hitter Hilir Henno for the team lead in kills with 10 each. Henno also had three block assists and an ace.

UCI, who had nine aces and just 11 hitting errors, was also impressive at the net, out-blocking the Gauchos 10.5-6.5.

The Anteaters improve to 3-0 in Big West action and are 14-6 overall. UCI is 7-2 this season when playing at home.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Middle blocker sophomore Maxim Grigoriev hit .818 with nine kills on 11 swings without an error. He fired three aces and recorded a block assist.
>Middle blocker Connor Campbell led all players with six block assists and totaled eight kills
>Setter Brett Sheward had a team-high seven digs to go with 35 set assists, while guiding UCI to a .372 hitting performance
>UCSB (7-13, 0-4) was led by Geste Bianchi's match-high 13 kills

FIRST SET
>A kill, block and another UCI attack error helped UCSB out to a 7-5 lead
>After a kill, Maxim Grigoriev stepped behind the service line and UCI scored six in a row, one an ace and two on blocks to take a 13-8 lead
>UCI would score the final six points, two on D'Arcy aces including the set-winner, 25-14

SECOND SET
>An ace by Grigoriev gave UCI a 3-1 lead then another ace, this one by D'Arcy put UCI ahead 12-6
>A kill and block assist by Campbell increased the lead to 17-12
>A 6-1 spurt by UCSB tied the set at 20-20
>Back-to-back kills by Henno put UCI back in control 22-20
>Soft tip over by Henno and a triple block by Campbell, D'Arcy and Akhil Tangutur gave UCI the set, 25-22

THIRD SET
> UC Irvine started on a 3-0 run that saw two kills from D'Arcy
> Henno scored on a kill and then added an ace, 6-2
>Consecutive kills from Campbell and Grigoriev propelled the Anteaters to a 14-10 advantage
>Grigoriev and Tangutur teamed up for the double stuff for match point, 24-17
>UCSB would fight off three match points before D'Arcy recorded a kill off the block, 25-20

NOTES
>Nine aces are tied for the second most this season.
>It is UCI's ninth sweep of the season
>Henno has recorded double-figure kills in each match this year
>After playing over three hours on Sunday, UCI was efficient taking just one hour and 28 minutes to beat UCSB

UP NEXT
The two teams will meet again Friday (Mar. 15) at 6:00 p.m. at the Thunderdome.