THIS WEEK
OUTRIGGER Big West Championship presented by the Hawaiian Islands
No. 2 UC Irvine vs No. 1 Long Beach State
Saturday, Apr. 20 | 10:00 pm PT/7:00 HT | SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center

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FIRST SERVE
No. 2 seed UC Irvine will battle No. 1 Long Beach State in the title match of the OUTRIGGER Big West Championship presented by the Hawaiian Islands  Saturday (Apr. 20) at 10:00 p.m. PT/7 HT at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i.

STORYLINES
The Anteaters return to the championship for the second consecutive year after a 3-0 win over host Hawaii.
 
Outside hitter Hilir Henno put away a match-best 24 kills, hitting 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.
 
After Hawaii jumped out to an early lead to start the match, Akhil Tangutur entered and steadied the ship then contributed nine kills in 21 attempts without an error. He also had eight digs and two aces.
 
While the Anteaters won in three sets, the first two games were a brawl, going 26-24 and then 36-34, the longest set in Big West Championship history.
 
The Anteaters and Beach will be meeting for the third time in eight days.
 
UCI moved up to No. 3 in the AVCA national rankings after splitting the season series with No. 1 Long Beach State last week.
 
Last Friday in Irvine, the Anteaters handed LBSU a 3-0 defeat, its second Big West loss and snapped their 12-match winning streak behind six aces and a .397 (42-11-78) hitting percentage. Henno had a match-best 14 kills followed by William D'Arcy hitting .750 with 13 kills in 16 attempts and just one error.  Sotiris Siapanis paced LBSU with nine kills.
 
On Saturday, the service line was key, UCI was plagued by 18 service errors, the third most of the season and were out-aced 7-2.
 
Long Beach State hit .431 (40-9-72), while the Anteaters hit .359 (40-12-78). Henno and Siapanis each had 13 kills to lead their squads.
 
UCI is 19-9 overall, ending 7-3 in the Big West standings, earning the No. 2 seed.
 
The Beach is 24-2 on the season and are the No. 1 blocking team in the country (3.24).
 
No. 2 is the highest seed in a Big West Championship for UCI and highest in a conference tournament since 2015 when the Anteaters were top-seed at the MPSF Championship.
 
UCI is 6-5 all-time at the Big West Championship.

The Anteaters are 1-2 versus LBSU at the Big West Championship, toppling the Beach 3-0 last season in a semifinal match in Irvine.

In that match, the Anteaters hit .329 (39-12-82), while limiting The Beach to a .157 (33-19-89) mark. Henno topped the Anteaters with a then-career-high with 22 kills, hitting .471 (22-6-34).

Before the Big West sponsored volleyball in 2018, the Anteaters won a conference tournament three times, capturing the MPSF championship title in 2007, 2012 and 2015.

UCI was 0-3 versus Long Beach State in the MPSF postseason.