No. 2 UC Irvine Tops Concordia, 3-1

Saturday, February 8

Irvine, CA

7:00 p.m.

UC Irvine

8-0,0-0Big West

Concordia

4-6,0-0MPSF

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UC Irvine	28	25	26	25	3
CUI	26	17	28	15	1

Photo by: Matt Brown

No. 2 UC Irvine Tops Concordia, 3-1

February 08, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Stacey Shackleford

IRVINE, Calif. -- Outside hitter Hilir Henno had 18 kills and opposite Nolan Flexen totaled 17 kills to lead No. 2 UC Irvine to a 3-1 victory (28-26, 25-17, 28-26, 25-15) over Concordia at CU Arena Saturday night.

The 18 kills are a season-best for Henno, who has recorded double-digit kills in all but one match this season.

The Anteaters improve to 8-0 overall, out-digging the Golden Eagles 44-31.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Setter Joe Karlous posted his third double-double of the season with 41 set assists and match-high 10 digs
>Libero Shane Aitken had a career-high eight digs
>Freshman outside hitter Tim Ennis tied his career-best with five kills and recorded a new personal-best seven digs
>Middle blocker Maxim Grigoriev had nine kills, three aces and three block assists
>The Golden Eagles were led by Christian Galoppo's 13 kills and Kasey Clouet's six total blocks (2 solo)
>Concordia out-blocked UCI 9-7

FIRST SET
>Concordia would control much of the first set leading 13-8 and again 16-11 on an ace
>A block and ace by Maxim Grigoriev would close the gap 17-19
>Back-to-back kills by Nolan Flexen and Grigoriev was followed by a CUI attack error to tie the set at 22-22
>Teams would battle back and forth until a Golden Eagle service error was followed by a block by Flexen and Micah Goss to end the set 28-26

SECOND SET
>Three Flexen kills and one from Grigoriev helped UCI start the set with a 4-1 lead
>A kill and solo block by Goss made it 8-3
>UCI was up 15-10 until Concordia had a pair of kills and an ace to close to 15-13
>The Anteaters responded with two kills by Hilir Henno and a CUI attack error to extend the lead back out to 18-13
>An ace by Goss and to Concordia errors upped the margin to 21-14
>A kill by Tim Ennis and an ace by Grigoriev gave the Anteaters the set 25-17

THIRD SET
>An ace by Henno tied the set at 5-5
>CUI would hold a 13-11 lead before a Golden Eagle service error and three consecutive Henno kills were followed by a block by Flexen and Grigoriev, 15-13
>Concordia answered with three in a row, 16-15
>Teams went point for point until a Flexen kill and an ace by Aidan Schulten gave UCI some separation, 21-19
>A kill by Flexen put the Anteaters in front 23-21 only to watch CUI score three in a row, a kill and two UCI errors, to move in front 24-23
>A kill by Flexen stopped the momentum, but Concordia would go on to win the set, 28-26 on a UCI service error and kill

FOURTH SET
>Concordia carried over the momentum scoring the first two points
>CUI would lead 3-1 before UCI rattled off seven in a row, three kills by Henno and two by Flexen, 8-3
>Three consecutive CUI errors, one a block by Goss and Flexen, extended the lead to 14-6
>A kill by Flexen ended the set, 25-15 and match 3-1

NOTES
>Henno, who is second in the country in ace average, added two to give him 205 all-time
>UCI drops a set for the first time since Jan. 22

UP NEXT
No. 2 UCI hosts No.5 USC Wednesday (Feb. 12) at the Bren Events Center.