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HONOLULU, Hawaii – Second-seed UC Irvine swept third-seed Hawaii (26-24, 36-34, 25-15) in a semifinal of the 2024 OUTRIGGER Big West Men's Volleyball Championship presented by the Hawaiian Islands at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
UC Irvine advances to the championship match for the second consecutive year and will face No. 1 Long Beach State at 10:00 p.m. PT/7 HT Saturday (Apr. 20).
 
The Anteaters improve to 19-9 overall after winning a critical second set 36-34, fighting off nine Hawaii set points. The 36-34 score was the highest in a Big West Championship set.
 
Outside hitter Hilir Henno had a match-high 24 kills, hitting .511 (24-1-45) with his lone hitting error coming in the third set. He ended with five digs, two block assists and an ace.
 
Graduate student Akhil Tangutur was key off the bench with nine kills in 21 attempts without an error. He also had eight digs and two aces.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Opposite William D'Arcy and middle blocker Maxim Grigoriev each had four kills. Grigoriev had a match-high four total blocks (2 solo)
>Setter Brett Sheward had his fourth double-double of the season with 38 set assists and 10 digs to go with two block assists and an ace
>The Anteaters out-hit UH .376 to .315 and held an advantage in blocks (7-4) and aces (6-4)
>Hawaii was led by freshman Louis Sakanoko with 12 kills
>UH had 19 service errors
 
FIRST SET
>Tough serving, which included two aces, got Hawaii out to a quick 7-1 lead
>UCI came storming back with a 5-0 run, sparked by a pair of Akhil Tangutur kills, 7-8
>The Anteaters would close within one several times before Hawaii had consecutive kills to open a 14-11 advantage
>Tangutur would have a kill and ace to inch to 15-16
>A blast by Hilir Henno tied the set at 17-17, but UH would use a UCI service error and a block to remain in control, 19-17
>A kill by Grigoriev and Henno knotted the set at 21 all
>A Hawaii service error and a kill by Henno off the block put the Anteaters at set point, 24-23
>Following a UH kill, a solo block by Connor Campbell was followed by a triple block by Henno, Maxim Grigoriev and Brett Sheward to end the set 26-24
>UCI hit .483 (16-2-29) in the frame
 
SECOND SET
>A Hawaii service error started a 3-0 run which saw a kill by Tangutur and block by William D'Arcy and Campbell, 5-2
>An ace by Tangutur put UCI up 8-5 then a soft roll shot by Henno made it 11-8
>A 6-1 run which started with four kills and a block by Hawaii moved the Rainbow Warriors ahead, 16-14
>A Hawaii service error was followed by an ace by Sheward to tie the score at 17-17
>The teams would trade points until 19-19 when Hawaii used three Anteater errors, the last a block and a kill to move in front, 23-20
>UCI wasn't done with a UH service error, two Henno kills and an ace by Conner Dahm catapulted the Anteaters to set point 25-24
>The teams would battle back-and-forth fighting off set points, before Henno put away two kills in a row for the marathon 36-34 victory  
>Hawaii had nine set points, while UCI did it on their fifth try
 
THIRD SET
>UCI started with a 2-0 lead but Hawaii answered quickly with the next three
>At 7-7, a UCI service error was sandwiched between two Hawaii errors and a kill and ace by Henno, 11-8
>A kill by Tangutur off the block and a block by Campbell and Sheward put UCI in front 15-11 at the media timeout
>A kill by Henno and a Hawaii attack that sailed long gave the Anteaters a 17-12 advantage
>A block by Grigoriev and Henno and a kill by Tangutur put the Anteaters at 20-14
>Following a Rainbow Warrior timeout, Grigoriev locked down the net with consecutive solo blocks, 22-14
>UCI would score the final three points on kills by Grigoriev and Tangutur and a Grigoriev ace, 25-15
 
NOTES
>It is UCI first win over Hawaii at the Big West Championship (1-3)
>It is the 12^th sweep of the season, including the third against a Top 5 team
>Henno is five aces shy of Carson Clark's UCI career ace record of 183
>Libero Cole Power added five digs in the win