Photo by: Regents of the University of California
UC Irvine Battles Penn State In NCAA Opening Round Tuesday
April 28, 2024 | Men's Volleyball
THIS WEEK
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 5 Penn State vs No. 4 UC Irvine Tuesday, Apr. 30 | 1:30 PM | Walter Pyramid
Live Stats Watch
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
FIRST SERVE
No. 4 seed UC Irvine will take on No. 5 Penn State in the opening round of the NCAA Championship Tuesday (Apr. 30) at 1:30 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus.
The winner will advance to a semifinal match Thursday (May 2) at 3:30 p.m. against the winner of the UCLA/Fort Valley State match.
STORYLINES
Outside hitter Hilir Henno was named the Big West Player of the Year, the third UCI player to be named conference Player of the Year, joining Jayson Jablonsky (2006) and Zack La Cavera (2015) who earned the top accolade in the MPSF.
Henno added to list of honors being tabbed Off The Block National Player of the Year.
The Anteaters return to the championship for the eighth time (2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018), capturing national titles in 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2013.
UCI and Penn State have meet three times in the postseason with the Anteaters holding a 2-1 series lead.
In UCI's first NCAA appearance in 2006, the No. 4 seeded Nittany Lions upset the No. 1 ranked Anteaters 3-2 (32-30, 30-23, 31-33, 27-30, 15-13) in a semifinal contest in University Park in the infamous lights out match. PSU's Max Holt recorded a kill to put the Nittany Lions up 14-13 in the fifth and stepped back to the service line when the arena lights, which were on a timer, went out. After a 14-minute delay, Holt would serve an ace for the match winner, 15-13.
The next year, UCI topped Penn State, 3-1 in a semifinal on the way to capturing its first national title.
The Anteaters also beat the Nittany Lions, 3-1 in the semifinals on the way to the 2012 national title.
In another connection, Penn State defeated Pepperdine to win their second national championship in 2008 at UC Irvine's Bren Events Center.
All-time, UCI holds an 8-6 advantage against Penn State.
Penn State has won the last two meetings, including a 3-2 victory (32-34, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22, 15-11) in Irvine last season.
The three-hour match saw the Anteaters go up 2-1, but hit just .020 over the final two sets (16-15-51). The Nittany Lions out-blocked UCI 13.5 to 5, including a 7 to 3 advantage in the final two sets. Hilir Henno had nine of UCI's season-high 13 aces in the loss.
The Nittany Lions are 23-6 overall after capturing the EIVA Championship with a 3-1 victory over George Mason.
Penn State enters the Championship on a 10-match winning streak, the longest in the nation.
PSU is 0-3 on a neutral court and are 1-3 playing in California this season.
The Nittany Lions played at the Walter Pyramid on Mar. 1 in a 1-3 loss to Long Beach State. They hit just .132 (36-21-114) and were out-blocked (15-3) and out-aced (12-4).
Tuesday's match will feature two conference Players of the Year with John Kerr garnering the EIVA's top honor. He joined Toby Ezeonu, Ryan Merk, Owen Rose, Michal Kowal and Michael Valenzi with All-EIVA honors.
ON THE RECORD
UCI is 19-10 overall, advancing to the Big West Championship match for the second consecutive year.
The Anteaters dropped a 1-3 loss to Long Beach State in the title showdown.
The last time out, UCI committed 20 service errors, which is tied for the second most this season by the Anteaters and watched Long Beach State fire 11 aces. The Beach also dominated the net with an 11.5-3.5 advantage in blocks.
UC Irvine has 15 wins over ranked opponents including six against Top 5 opponents, toppling two No. 1 teams (LBSU, GCU).
Four of their Top 5 wins were away from the Bren Center (No. 1 GCU, No. 5 Stanford twice, No. 5 Hawaii).
Four of the 10 losses this season have come in five sets, including two versus Top 5 teams (UCLA, Hawaii).
The Anteaters have only played four unranked teams in 2024.
UC Irvine is ranked No. 4 nationally, while Penn State is No. 8.
THIS AND THAT
UCI leads the country in kills (13.43) and assists (12.71). The Anteaters also rank eighth in digs (9.23) and hitting percentage (.330).
For the first time since 2015, UCI landed four student-athletes on the All-Big West first team: Hilir Henno, Brett Sheward, Maxim Grigoriev and Cole Power.
UCI holds three of the top four kill marks in the Big West this season, including a league-best 73 versus Lewis.
The Anteaters had 65 kills against USC which is the second most in the country in a four-set match in 2024.
UCI has hit over .400 or better five times in 2024.
HAPPY TO HAVE HENNO
Before being named Big West Player of the Year, Hilir Henno earned his third first team Big West honor, joining Joel Schniedmiller and assistant coach Scott Stadick as UCI's only three-time Big West first team selections.
Henno is second nationally in points (5.47) and in kills (4.72), seventh in hitting percentage (.380) and 11th in aces (.441).
He was named Big West Offensive Player of the Week four times this season, including AVCA National Player of the Week on Feb. 19.
The outside hitter has recorded double-digit kills in every match, including a career-high 36 kills at Hawaii, hitting .412 (36-8-68), the most kills by a Big West player this season and second most in the country.
The junior fired a Big West and UCI record nine aces versus Princeton and became the Big West career leader in aces with 179 and counting.
The junior is four aces shy of tying the UCI career ace record held by Carson Clark at 183 from 2009-12.
He is tied for second among active NCAA Division I players with 179 aces in just 77 career matches.
AT THE PINS
Along with Henno, outside hitter Nolan Flexen and opposite William D'Arcy anchor the offense at the pins.
Flexen has played in 17 matches and is second on the team averaging 2.84 kills. He is also averaging 0.72 digs and 0.57 blocks over 61 sets.
He has seven double-digit kill performances including a season-high 20, while hitting .667 against Princeton.
D'Arcy has seen action in 69 sets and is averaging 2.62 kills. He has nine double-digit kill nights, hitting over .400 four times. He recorded a career-best 19 kills, hitting .548 (19-2-31) in the upset of No.1 GCU.
TALKING TANGUTUR
Graduate student Akhil Tangutur has been a steady force for the Anteaters all season. He came in against Hawaii in the Big West semifinals and recorded nine kills, hitting .429 without an error (9-0-21).
He has started 13 times this season and is averaging 1.04 kills and 1.20 digs.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 5 Penn State vs No. 4 UC Irvine Tuesday, Apr. 30 | 1:30 PM | Walter Pyramid
Live Stats Watch
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
FIRST SERVE
No. 4 seed UC Irvine will take on No. 5 Penn State in the opening round of the NCAA Championship Tuesday (Apr. 30) at 1:30 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus.
The winner will advance to a semifinal match Thursday (May 2) at 3:30 p.m. against the winner of the UCLA/Fort Valley State match.
STORYLINES
Outside hitter Hilir Henno was named the Big West Player of the Year, the third UCI player to be named conference Player of the Year, joining Jayson Jablonsky (2006) and Zack La Cavera (2015) who earned the top accolade in the MPSF.
Henno added to list of honors being tabbed Off The Block National Player of the Year.
The Anteaters return to the championship for the eighth time (2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018), capturing national titles in 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2013.
UCI and Penn State have meet three times in the postseason with the Anteaters holding a 2-1 series lead.
In UCI's first NCAA appearance in 2006, the No. 4 seeded Nittany Lions upset the No. 1 ranked Anteaters 3-2 (32-30, 30-23, 31-33, 27-30, 15-13) in a semifinal contest in University Park in the infamous lights out match. PSU's Max Holt recorded a kill to put the Nittany Lions up 14-13 in the fifth and stepped back to the service line when the arena lights, which were on a timer, went out. After a 14-minute delay, Holt would serve an ace for the match winner, 15-13.
The next year, UCI topped Penn State, 3-1 in a semifinal on the way to capturing its first national title.
The Anteaters also beat the Nittany Lions, 3-1 in the semifinals on the way to the 2012 national title.
In another connection, Penn State defeated Pepperdine to win their second national championship in 2008 at UC Irvine's Bren Events Center.
All-time, UCI holds an 8-6 advantage against Penn State.
Penn State has won the last two meetings, including a 3-2 victory (32-34, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22, 15-11) in Irvine last season.
The three-hour match saw the Anteaters go up 2-1, but hit just .020 over the final two sets (16-15-51). The Nittany Lions out-blocked UCI 13.5 to 5, including a 7 to 3 advantage in the final two sets. Hilir Henno had nine of UCI's season-high 13 aces in the loss.
The Nittany Lions are 23-6 overall after capturing the EIVA Championship with a 3-1 victory over George Mason.
Penn State enters the Championship on a 10-match winning streak, the longest in the nation.
PSU is 0-3 on a neutral court and are 1-3 playing in California this season.
The Nittany Lions played at the Walter Pyramid on Mar. 1 in a 1-3 loss to Long Beach State. They hit just .132 (36-21-114) and were out-blocked (15-3) and out-aced (12-4).
Tuesday's match will feature two conference Players of the Year with John Kerr garnering the EIVA's top honor. He joined Toby Ezeonu, Ryan Merk, Owen Rose, Michal Kowal and Michael Valenzi with All-EIVA honors.
ON THE RECORD
UCI is 19-10 overall, advancing to the Big West Championship match for the second consecutive year.
The Anteaters dropped a 1-3 loss to Long Beach State in the title showdown.
The last time out, UCI committed 20 service errors, which is tied for the second most this season by the Anteaters and watched Long Beach State fire 11 aces. The Beach also dominated the net with an 11.5-3.5 advantage in blocks.
UC Irvine has 15 wins over ranked opponents including six against Top 5 opponents, toppling two No. 1 teams (LBSU, GCU).
Four of their Top 5 wins were away from the Bren Center (No. 1 GCU, No. 5 Stanford twice, No. 5 Hawaii).
Four of the 10 losses this season have come in five sets, including two versus Top 5 teams (UCLA, Hawaii).
The Anteaters have only played four unranked teams in 2024.
UC Irvine is ranked No. 4 nationally, while Penn State is No. 8.
THIS AND THAT
UCI leads the country in kills (13.43) and assists (12.71). The Anteaters also rank eighth in digs (9.23) and hitting percentage (.330).
For the first time since 2015, UCI landed four student-athletes on the All-Big West first team: Hilir Henno, Brett Sheward, Maxim Grigoriev and Cole Power.
UCI holds three of the top four kill marks in the Big West this season, including a league-best 73 versus Lewis.
The Anteaters had 65 kills against USC which is the second most in the country in a four-set match in 2024.
UCI has hit over .400 or better five times in 2024.
HAPPY TO HAVE HENNO
Before being named Big West Player of the Year, Hilir Henno earned his third first team Big West honor, joining Joel Schniedmiller and assistant coach Scott Stadick as UCI's only three-time Big West first team selections.
Henno is second nationally in points (5.47) and in kills (4.72), seventh in hitting percentage (.380) and 11th in aces (.441).
He was named Big West Offensive Player of the Week four times this season, including AVCA National Player of the Week on Feb. 19.
The outside hitter has recorded double-digit kills in every match, including a career-high 36 kills at Hawaii, hitting .412 (36-8-68), the most kills by a Big West player this season and second most in the country.
The junior fired a Big West and UCI record nine aces versus Princeton and became the Big West career leader in aces with 179 and counting.
The junior is four aces shy of tying the UCI career ace record held by Carson Clark at 183 from 2009-12.
He is tied for second among active NCAA Division I players with 179 aces in just 77 career matches.
AT THE PINS
Along with Henno, outside hitter Nolan Flexen and opposite William D'Arcy anchor the offense at the pins.
Flexen has played in 17 matches and is second on the team averaging 2.84 kills. He is also averaging 0.72 digs and 0.57 blocks over 61 sets.
He has seven double-digit kill performances including a season-high 20, while hitting .667 against Princeton.
D'Arcy has seen action in 69 sets and is averaging 2.62 kills. He has nine double-digit kill nights, hitting over .400 four times. He recorded a career-best 19 kills, hitting .548 (19-2-31) in the upset of No.1 GCU.
TALKING TANGUTUR
Graduate student Akhil Tangutur has been a steady force for the Anteaters all season. He came in against Hawaii in the Big West semifinals and recorded nine kills, hitting .429 without an error (9-0-21).
He has started 13 times this season and is averaging 1.04 kills and 1.20 digs.
Players Mentioned
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OH
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Sunday, May 10
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Saturday, May 09
