Photo by: Matt Brown
No. 2 UC Irvine Heads To No. 9 Stanford For Two Matches
January 29, 2025 | Men's Volleyball
THIS WEEK
No. 2 UC Irvine at No. 9 Stanford
Friday, Jan. 31 | 6:00 PM | Burnham Pavilion
Live Stats Watch: Big 10 Network
No. 2 UC Irvine at No. 9 Stanford
Saturday, Feb. 1 | 6:00 PM | Maples Pavilion
Live Stats Watch: Big 10 Network
FIRST SERVE
No. 2 UC Irvine heads to No. 9 Stanford to a play a pair of matches Friday and Saturday (Jan. 31, Feb. 1). Friday's match will be played at Burnham Pavilion, while Saturday is in Maples Pavilion. Both nights have first serve at 6:00 p.m.
STORYLINES
UC Irvine stayed at No. 2 for the second consecutive week.
The Anteaters are 5-0 overall, coming off two wins over No. 5 BYU at home last week.
The first night, Nolan Flexen led UCI to a 3-2 victory with a career-high 26 kills and nine digs.
UCI had a season-high 12.5 blocks, led by freshman Micah Goss career-best nine total blocks (1 solo) to go with his career-high eight kills.
Flexen led the Anteaters again on the second night with 14 kills in front of 2,823 fans, the third-largest Bren Events Center crowd in program history.
UCI has topped Stanford in the last four meetings, beating the Cardinal twice last season on the road, 3-1.
Hilir Henno paced UCI both nights with 23 kills the first night and 28 the next.
Stanford is 3-1 overall, with the lone loss in the season opener against Ball State.
Stanford took down No. 13 Ohio State, 3-0 and No. 14 Penn State, 3-1 at the First Point Collegiate Challenge in Austin, TX last week.
Libero Evan Porter was named the MPSF Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 2.86 digs per set in Austin.
UCI leads the country in ace average with a 2.88 mark. Nine different Anteaters have recorded at least one ace with senior Hilir Henno leading the team with 17 this season.
The Anteaters had a season-high 14 aces in the season opener versus Menlo, tied for the second most in a three set match this season.
UCI is ranked fourth in hitting percentage at .377.
Big West teams are 34-4 this season.
UCI's freshman Cameron Kosty is the son of Stanford head coach John Kosty.
A SWEEP OF BIG WEST WEEKLY AWARDS
UC Irvine swept the Big West weekly awards after beating BYU last week. Noaln Flexen was named Offensive Player of the Week, while Joe Karlous was Setter of the Week and Micah Goss was Defensive and Freshman of the Week.
Flexen was dominant in two wins over the Cougars, averaging 5.00 kills, 5.63 points, 1.75 digs and 1.00 blocks for the week. In the first match, he put down a career-high 26 kills, including five in the final fifth set. He also recorded a career-high nine digs and added a season-high five block assists and one ace. The next night, the senior totaled 14 kills in the sweep with five digs and three block assists. He hit .423 (40-7-78) against the previously unbeaten Cougars. It was Flexen's first Big West weekly honor.
Karlous guided UCI to a pair of victories over previously unbeaten BYU with an average of 10.38 set assists and 3.50 digs. The grad student had a matched his career-high with 53 set assists and 12 digs in the first meeting then totaled 36 set assists and tied his career-high with 16 digs in the second. He recorded an ace and two block assists over the two matches. Behind Karlous, the Anteaters hit .335 for the week. It is his first Setter of the Week recognition and second weekly award overall, claiming the defensive award on March 20, 2023. Karlous leads The Big West in digs with a 2.43 average and is third in set assists with a 10.36 mark.
Goss controlled the net last week averaging 1.88 blocks while averaging 1.63 kills. The middle blocker had a career-high eight block assists in the opening contest, including a solo block with UCI leading 13-12 in the fifth set to give the Anteaters match point. He also tied his career-high with eight kills and two digs. The freshman followed that performance with six blocks and five kills in a sweep of the Cougars. Overall, Goss is averaging to 1.44 blocks per set, fifth-best in the country.
FLEXING HIS POWER
Opposite Nolan Flexen leads the team and is fourth nationally in kills (4.29). He is also fifth in points (5.29) and eighth in the country in hitting percentage (.426).
The senior has recorded kills in the double-figures in the last four matches, including career-high 26 kills in the first meeting with BYU.
HAVING HENNO
Senior Hilir Henno is second in the country in points (5.29) and ninth in kills (3.94) per set.
He is UCI's all-time leader in aces with 198 and counting. He passed Carson Clark's (2009-12) old mark of 183 in the first match of the season. He became the Big West leader last season, passing UCSB's Ryan Wilcox. The lefty holds the UCI and shares the Big West record for aces in a match with nine.
No. 2 UC Irvine at No. 9 Stanford
Friday, Jan. 31 | 6:00 PM | Burnham Pavilion
Live Stats Watch: Big 10 Network
No. 2 UC Irvine at No. 9 Stanford
Saturday, Feb. 1 | 6:00 PM | Maples Pavilion
Live Stats Watch: Big 10 Network
FIRST SERVE
No. 2 UC Irvine heads to No. 9 Stanford to a play a pair of matches Friday and Saturday (Jan. 31, Feb. 1). Friday's match will be played at Burnham Pavilion, while Saturday is in Maples Pavilion. Both nights have first serve at 6:00 p.m.
STORYLINES
UC Irvine stayed at No. 2 for the second consecutive week.
The Anteaters are 5-0 overall, coming off two wins over No. 5 BYU at home last week.
The first night, Nolan Flexen led UCI to a 3-2 victory with a career-high 26 kills and nine digs.
UCI had a season-high 12.5 blocks, led by freshman Micah Goss career-best nine total blocks (1 solo) to go with his career-high eight kills.
Flexen led the Anteaters again on the second night with 14 kills in front of 2,823 fans, the third-largest Bren Events Center crowd in program history.
UCI has topped Stanford in the last four meetings, beating the Cardinal twice last season on the road, 3-1.
Hilir Henno paced UCI both nights with 23 kills the first night and 28 the next.
Stanford is 3-1 overall, with the lone loss in the season opener against Ball State.
Stanford took down No. 13 Ohio State, 3-0 and No. 14 Penn State, 3-1 at the First Point Collegiate Challenge in Austin, TX last week.
Libero Evan Porter was named the MPSF Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 2.86 digs per set in Austin.
UCI leads the country in ace average with a 2.88 mark. Nine different Anteaters have recorded at least one ace with senior Hilir Henno leading the team with 17 this season.
The Anteaters had a season-high 14 aces in the season opener versus Menlo, tied for the second most in a three set match this season.
UCI is ranked fourth in hitting percentage at .377.
Big West teams are 34-4 this season.
UCI's freshman Cameron Kosty is the son of Stanford head coach John Kosty.
A SWEEP OF BIG WEST WEEKLY AWARDS
UC Irvine swept the Big West weekly awards after beating BYU last week. Noaln Flexen was named Offensive Player of the Week, while Joe Karlous was Setter of the Week and Micah Goss was Defensive and Freshman of the Week.
Flexen was dominant in two wins over the Cougars, averaging 5.00 kills, 5.63 points, 1.75 digs and 1.00 blocks for the week. In the first match, he put down a career-high 26 kills, including five in the final fifth set. He also recorded a career-high nine digs and added a season-high five block assists and one ace. The next night, the senior totaled 14 kills in the sweep with five digs and three block assists. He hit .423 (40-7-78) against the previously unbeaten Cougars. It was Flexen's first Big West weekly honor.
Karlous guided UCI to a pair of victories over previously unbeaten BYU with an average of 10.38 set assists and 3.50 digs. The grad student had a matched his career-high with 53 set assists and 12 digs in the first meeting then totaled 36 set assists and tied his career-high with 16 digs in the second. He recorded an ace and two block assists over the two matches. Behind Karlous, the Anteaters hit .335 for the week. It is his first Setter of the Week recognition and second weekly award overall, claiming the defensive award on March 20, 2023. Karlous leads The Big West in digs with a 2.43 average and is third in set assists with a 10.36 mark.
Goss controlled the net last week averaging 1.88 blocks while averaging 1.63 kills. The middle blocker had a career-high eight block assists in the opening contest, including a solo block with UCI leading 13-12 in the fifth set to give the Anteaters match point. He also tied his career-high with eight kills and two digs. The freshman followed that performance with six blocks and five kills in a sweep of the Cougars. Overall, Goss is averaging to 1.44 blocks per set, fifth-best in the country.
FLEXING HIS POWER
Opposite Nolan Flexen leads the team and is fourth nationally in kills (4.29). He is also fifth in points (5.29) and eighth in the country in hitting percentage (.426).
The senior has recorded kills in the double-figures in the last four matches, including career-high 26 kills in the first meeting with BYU.
HAVING HENNO
Senior Hilir Henno is second in the country in points (5.29) and ninth in kills (3.94) per set.
He is UCI's all-time leader in aces with 198 and counting. He passed Carson Clark's (2009-12) old mark of 183 in the first match of the season. He became the Big West leader last season, passing UCSB's Ryan Wilcox. The lefty holds the UCI and shares the Big West record for aces in a match with nine.
Players Mentioned
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S/OPP
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