No. 2 UC Irvine (10-1) suffered a tough defeat after a dominant performance by No. 3 UCLA (7-3) at the Bren Events Center on Feb. 19. UCLA — the defending back-to-back national champions, improved to 7-3 with a straight-set victory, winning 25-22, 25-17 and 25-23.
The match was a rematch of last year’s national semifinal, where UC Irvine and UCLA went head-to-head in an intense battle for a spot in the championship.
Set 1
The match kicked off strong for UC Irvine, with sophomore opposite Andon Kiriakou serving two aces, giving the Anteaters an early lead. UC Irvine held a narrow advantage at 4-2 and again at 8-6, but UCLA quickly answered, tying the score and preventing the gap from growing too wide. A series of service errors from UC Irvine allowed UCLA to seize control, letting UCLA take the lead for the first time at 10-9.
Despite this, UC Irvine fought back, with senior outside hitter Hilir Henno contributing two kills and a service ace to keep the score tight. However, UCLA gradually pulled ahead at 16-15 and again at 18-17. Redshirt sophomore setter Aidan Schulten, graduate student setter Joe Karlous and Henno joined forces to push for a comeback, tying the score at 20-20, but UCLA responded with a three-point run followed by a two-point streak. The Bruins ultimately closed out the set 25-22, taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
Set 2
UC Irvine’s redshirt freshman libero Shane Aitken and Kiriakou worked together to score a couple of points through tense rallies, and Henno’s strong offense helped push the Anteaters ahead 4-2. However, the Bruins tied the score at 4-4 and again at 5-5. Junior middle blocker Max Grigoriev stepped up for UC Irvine, firing back with back to back powerful service aces. A solid block from Kiriakou and another service ace from Grigoriev forced UCLA to call a timeout.
Despite the break, the Bruins found their rhythm, going on an impressive six-point run to take a commanding lead. UC Irvine managed to sneak in a few more points, thanks to junior opposite William D’Arcy’s defensive blocks and multiple kills from Henno, but UCLA was simply too overpowering, closing out the set 25-17 and taking a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set 3
After two strong sets, UCLA came out with even more energy in the third, jumping to an early 5-2 lead. A few service and net errors from the Bruins allowed UC Irvine to slowly claw back, tying the score at 10-10. The teams then traded points, tying the score three more times. After UCLA went on a long four-point run, they pulled ahead at 20-14 and stayed composed until the end of the match.
But the Anteaters weren’t done yet. Grigoriev led the charge with some skilled plays, helping the Anteaters partially close the gap to four, 21-19. Henno followed this energy with two kills, and D’Arcy added another, bringing the score to 24-23, just one point shy of a tie. Though UC Irvine was on the brink of forcing extra points, UCLA held firm, securing the final point and winning the set 25-23 to complete the 3-0 sweep.
On Feb. 22, UC Irvine battled against UCLA once again, this time at the Pauley Pavilion. Despite a strong effort, the Anteaters were narrowly defeated, with the final score ending at 3-2.
Abigail Park is a Sports Staff Writer. She can be reached at appark@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Logan Heine