Photo by: Regents of the University of California
No. 4 UC Irvine Hosts No. 9 CSUN In Home Finale Thursday
April 16, 2025 | Men's Volleyball
THIS WEEK
No. 9 CSUN at No. 4 UC Irvine
Thursday, Apr. 17 | 6:00 PM | Bren Events Center
Live Stats ESPN+
No. 4 UC Irvine at No. 9 CSUN
Saturday, Apr. 19 | 6:00 PM | Premier America Credit Union Arena
Live Stats ESPN+
FIRST SERVE
No. 4 UC Irvine will close out the regular season against No. 9 CSUN. The two teams will meet at the Bren Events Center Thursday (Apr. 17) before heading to Northridge Saturday (Apr. 19) at the Premier America Credit Union Arena. Both matches begin at 6:00 p.m.
Following Thursday's match, UC Irvine will celebrate Joe Karlous, Maxim Grigoriev, Nolan Flexen and Hilir Henno.
Over the last three years, these players have helped UCI accumulate 56 wins and advance to the Big West title match the last two years.
STORYLINES
UCI moved back to No. 4 in the rankings.
The Anteaters are 18-6 overall and 4-4 in the Big West.
UCI has won the last three outings, the longest current streak in the Big West, including two victories last week against No. 18 UC Santa Barbara.
In the first meeting on the road with the Gauchos, William D'Arcy pounded a career-high 21 kills.
D'Arcy is 12th nationally and leads the Big West in hitting percentage with a .390 mark.
Versus UCSB at home, Hilir Henno had 10 kills and fired four aces.
Henno now has 240 career aces, 15 shy of UCSB's Evan Patek's NCAA all-time mark of 255 set from 2004-07.
CSUN comes in as one of the hottest teams in the league, beating UC San Diego in five sets twice last week.
Jalen Phillips was named Big West Offensive Player of the Week after recording 61 kills over 10 sets, including a career-high 34 in a career-best 65 attempts in Saturday's reverse sweep at UC San Diego.
Donovan Constable was named Setter of the Week averaging 11.50 assists per set against the Tritons, including a career-high 62 assists in San Diego.
Phillips (4.31) and Henno (4.30) are the top two kill leaders in the Big West.
The teams split a pair of matches last season with the Matadors winning at home 3-1 and the Anteaters winning at home 3-0.
At the Matadome, CSUN used 16 blocks to tame the UCI offense which hit a season-low .117. The Anteaters were also coming off a 13-day break. The next meeting at the Bren, UCI hit .412 in the sweep.
BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE HORIZON
Seeding for the Big West Championship is up for grabs with the final two matches to play.
Long Beach State and Hawaii sit at the top with a 6-2 record. UC Irvine is 4-4 followed by CSUN and UC San Diego at 3-5 and UC Santa Barbara at 2-6.
The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship will feature all six Big West squads at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of Hawai'I from Apr. 24-26.
AITKEN HONORED BY BIG WEST
Freshman Shane Aitken was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week after UC Irvine's two wins against UC Santa Barbara.
The libero had a career-high 13 digs in the win over UC Santa Barbara on the road then had six digs versus the Gauchos back in the Bren Center for the second meeting. He also added six set assists in the first meeting. He passed 32 balls without a reception error over the two matches. Aitken averaged 2.38 digs per set last week.
This is Aitken's first Big West weekly honor and UCI's third Defensive honor of the season joining previous selections Maxim Grigoriev (Feb. 17) and Micah Goss (Jan. 27).
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The Anteaters are ranked third nationally in aces (2.07) and seventh in hitting percentage (.338), 14th in assists (11.62), and 16th in kills (12.43) in the country.
Individually, Hilir Henno is second in points (5.33) and aces (0.766) and fifth in kills (4.30) nationally.
Middle blocker Maxim Grigoriev is ninth in aces at .506.
POWER AT THE PINS
Along with Hilir Henno, outside hitter Nolan Flexen and opposite William D'Arcy provide a powerful attack. Flexen is fifth in the Big West in kills (3.29) and points (3.98) and 11th in blocks (0.78) and hitting percentage (.303).
D'Arcy is averaging 2.07 kills which is 16th among Big West players, while averaging 1.09 digs.
No. 9 CSUN at No. 4 UC Irvine
Thursday, Apr. 17 | 6:00 PM | Bren Events Center
Live Stats ESPN+
No. 4 UC Irvine at No. 9 CSUN
Saturday, Apr. 19 | 6:00 PM | Premier America Credit Union Arena
Live Stats ESPN+
FIRST SERVE
No. 4 UC Irvine will close out the regular season against No. 9 CSUN. The two teams will meet at the Bren Events Center Thursday (Apr. 17) before heading to Northridge Saturday (Apr. 19) at the Premier America Credit Union Arena. Both matches begin at 6:00 p.m.
Following Thursday's match, UC Irvine will celebrate Joe Karlous, Maxim Grigoriev, Nolan Flexen and Hilir Henno.
Over the last three years, these players have helped UCI accumulate 56 wins and advance to the Big West title match the last two years.
STORYLINES
UCI moved back to No. 4 in the rankings.
The Anteaters are 18-6 overall and 4-4 in the Big West.
UCI has won the last three outings, the longest current streak in the Big West, including two victories last week against No. 18 UC Santa Barbara.
In the first meeting on the road with the Gauchos, William D'Arcy pounded a career-high 21 kills.
D'Arcy is 12th nationally and leads the Big West in hitting percentage with a .390 mark.
Versus UCSB at home, Hilir Henno had 10 kills and fired four aces.
Henno now has 240 career aces, 15 shy of UCSB's Evan Patek's NCAA all-time mark of 255 set from 2004-07.
CSUN comes in as one of the hottest teams in the league, beating UC San Diego in five sets twice last week.
Jalen Phillips was named Big West Offensive Player of the Week after recording 61 kills over 10 sets, including a career-high 34 in a career-best 65 attempts in Saturday's reverse sweep at UC San Diego.
Donovan Constable was named Setter of the Week averaging 11.50 assists per set against the Tritons, including a career-high 62 assists in San Diego.
Phillips (4.31) and Henno (4.30) are the top two kill leaders in the Big West.
The teams split a pair of matches last season with the Matadors winning at home 3-1 and the Anteaters winning at home 3-0.
At the Matadome, CSUN used 16 blocks to tame the UCI offense which hit a season-low .117. The Anteaters were also coming off a 13-day break. The next meeting at the Bren, UCI hit .412 in the sweep.
BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE HORIZON
Seeding for the Big West Championship is up for grabs with the final two matches to play.
Long Beach State and Hawaii sit at the top with a 6-2 record. UC Irvine is 4-4 followed by CSUN and UC San Diego at 3-5 and UC Santa Barbara at 2-6.
The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship will feature all six Big West squads at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of Hawai'I from Apr. 24-26.
AITKEN HONORED BY BIG WEST
Freshman Shane Aitken was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week after UC Irvine's two wins against UC Santa Barbara.
The libero had a career-high 13 digs in the win over UC Santa Barbara on the road then had six digs versus the Gauchos back in the Bren Center for the second meeting. He also added six set assists in the first meeting. He passed 32 balls without a reception error over the two matches. Aitken averaged 2.38 digs per set last week.
This is Aitken's first Big West weekly honor and UCI's third Defensive honor of the season joining previous selections Maxim Grigoriev (Feb. 17) and Micah Goss (Jan. 27).
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The Anteaters are ranked third nationally in aces (2.07) and seventh in hitting percentage (.338), 14th in assists (11.62), and 16th in kills (12.43) in the country.
Individually, Hilir Henno is second in points (5.33) and aces (0.766) and fifth in kills (4.30) nationally.
Middle blocker Maxim Grigoriev is ninth in aces at .506.
POWER AT THE PINS
Along with Hilir Henno, outside hitter Nolan Flexen and opposite William D'Arcy provide a powerful attack. Flexen is fifth in the Big West in kills (3.29) and points (3.98) and 11th in blocks (0.78) and hitting percentage (.303).
D'Arcy is averaging 2.07 kills which is 16th among Big West players, while averaging 1.09 digs.
Players Mentioned
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