The UC Irvine men’s volleyball team (6-3) bounced back into the win column with an ecstatic victory over USC’s men’s volleyball (7-4) with a 3-1 win on Feb. 7 at the Bren Events Center.
The win breaks the Anteater’s two-game losing streak to the Trojans’ rival, UCLA, with the win coming in an energizing and passionate match by the ‘Eaters. The match began with a back-and-forth effort between the two teams, as both opponents collected multiple points on one another, as well as multiple blocks each. USC played a close-range game with their attacks closer to the net, and many points coming from close shots under the net, or from blocks.
On the other hand, UCI had a more conventional and distance-appointed approach to the match, collecting points from afar, and having more kills come from mid range than from close to the net. This first set led to nine tied scores, and three score changes, with the Trojans eventually finding a groove and gliding to a 25-19 win in the first set.
Never ones to back down, the Anteater’s came into the second set with a vengeance, improving their offense greatly and keeping the ball in the air for much longer. Junior outside hitter Hilir Henno began to make strides the match beginning this set, and leading on throughout the rest of the game — eventually ending his night with 29 kills and 7 digs.
When asked about the team’s sudden positive shift in the match, Henno told The New University, “[In the beginning] we just weren’t playing our volleyball that we usually play ,” and after a short break, the team realized, “It’s just volleyball. And [we] understood that and we just played our volleyball.”
That mindset came in handy as the team attacked USC furiously, with stellar defense blooming, as senior middle blocker Connor Campbell acquired two impressive blocks in the set, leading to UCI’s ninth and 20th point. The Anteaters eventually took the set with a close 25-22 win, after the Trojans attempted to push a comeback late in the match, which almost succeeded, much to the dread of the crowd.
Tied 1-1, the ‘Eaters continued their impressive energetic surge into the third set, attaining multiple points throughout the beginning of the set, with Henno being a large part of this offensive onslaught on USC. When asked about his impressive performance, Henno said that he “overperformed” in regard to the team’s stellar teamwork.
“The middle blocker [was] just doing such a good job, that basically it was always a one vs one. So it just made my task way easier.” Henno said. Overall, Henno believed that the team played well and that the team made their performance “viable” throughout their games.
This consistent performance helped UCI gain a larger lead going into the end of the third set, where the ‘Eaters led 23-17. However, this changed as USC began an impressive six point streak, finding holes in the Anteater defense — or simply striking as hard as they could into the far corner of the court. Eventually, the Trojans tied the set 23-23, leading to a nail biting standoff between the two, resulting in the set extending far behind comfort for the Anteaters in the stand.
Finally, UCI prevailed with a two point streak to win the set 30-28. This same scenario continued into the fourth set, as both teams competed back and forth against one another to secure the set — with the teams tying one another a total of 20 times throughout the match. Both teams continued their usual performance plays, gathering multiple kills and blocks against one another, resulting in yet another tied hair-raising finish.
This time, both the Trojans and the Anteaters continued their back-and-forth action fairly close, resulting in another tied finish. However, the ‘Eaters were able to prevail and gather the win 27-25, resulting in UCI gaining their first win in three games, and breaking their two-game losing streak.
UCI head coach David Kniffin commented on the multiple nail-biting finishes throughout the match.
“Where we are our most comfortable… it’s like, hey, there’s not much complicated here, just make the play that you know how to make,” Kniffin said.
Kniffin also commented on the team’s recent losses.
“[The team could] clean it up a little bit because that’s about as flat as we’ve played,” Kniffin said. “[I don’t think] we ever hit full stride, but we played well enough to win.”
Unfortunately, in their following game on Feb. 10, UCI lost to the Trojans in a hard fought but fair 3-1 loss at their home base in Los Angeles.
Benjamin Flores is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be contacted at floresbt@uci.edu
Edited by Phillip Lemus, Andrea Garcia and Laiyla Santillan
