FAIRFAX, VA – No. 5 UC Irvine hit .643 in a 3-0 win (25-18, 25-18, 25-14) over Daemen at George Mason's Recreation Athletic Complex.

The Anteaters' .643 hitting (40-4-56) is the best of the season for a Big West team and fourth best in the country in 2025.

Hilir Henno led UCI with 12 kills, hitting .733 (12-1-15). He fired four aces and had a team-best three total blocks (1 solo) and four digs.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Opposite William D'Arcy had a season-high 10 kills, hitting .625 without an attack error in 16 attempts. He also had three digs
>Outside hitter Nolan Flexen also had 10 kills, hitting .643 (10-1-14). He totaled three digs and an ace
>Setter Joe Karlous recorded 34 set assists and three digs
>Middle blockers Maxim Grigoriev and Micah Goss each had four kills with Grigoriev totaling two aces and two blocks
>Daemen hit .279 and were led by Zach Schneider with nine kills

FIRST SET
>The teams battled back-and-forth until Daemen went on a 3-1 run which included two kills and a UCI attack error, 11-8
>The Anteaters answered with four unanswered points three consecutive kills, two by Nolan Flexen and another by Hilir Henno followed by a Wildcat attack error to give UCI the 13-12 lead
>A kill by Micah Goss started another 4-0 spurt that included a block and two kills by Henno 17-13
>A kill by William D'Arcy, an ace by Henno, Daemen attack error and kill by Henno extended the lead to 23-16
>A Wildcat attack error handed UCI the set 25-18

SECOND SET
>It was all UCI to start the second set with kills by D'Arcy, Flexen and Maxim Grigoriev plus an ace by Henno, 4-0
>Back-to-back kills by Flexen pushed the lead out to 7-2
>A kill and block by Grigoriev and Henno forced a Daemen timeout, 12-5
>Consecutive kills by Flexen and Goss made it 15-7
>Goss would put away the set winner in the middle, 25-18

THIRD SET
>A 4-2 run that included a Flexen ace and a block by Henno and Grigoriev put UCI up 7-5
>Two Daemen errors, one from the service line, and a an ace by Grigoriev stretched the lead to 14-8
>Following a Daemen timeout, Grigoriev fired another ace, 15-8
>Kills by D'Arcy on either side of a Henno ace put the Anteaters at match point, 24-13
>Following a service error, Henno recorded a kill for the 25-14 win

NOTES
>UCI has won three in a row
>Henno has recorded an ace in all but one match this season and had had four or more four times

UP NEXT
UCI will take on host George Mason tomorrow (Mar. 22) at 2:00 p.m.