For KP’S NCAA Division I Match of the Week the quantity two ranked UCI Anteaters took on the fifth-ranked USC Trojans on Wednesday, February twelfth, and Friday, February 14th. These two matches have been extremely anticipated. USC went into the week pink sizzling with a (9-0) report racking wins up towards Ohio State and Penn State. The Trojans have a comparatively younger crew, however a lot of their underclassmen cracking the beginning lineup are a number of the prime recruits within the nation and have gained beneficial expertise with the USA youth nationwide crew. UCI additionally got here into the match undefeated (8-0) with two victories towards BYU and two highway wins at Stanford. The Anteaters are led by senior reverse Nolan Flexan, from New Mexico who began his profession at Grasp’s School and transferred to UCI. Hilar Henno is a senior exterior of France and the 2024 AVCA Nationwide Participant of the Yr.
The primary match was performed within the Bren Occasion Heart on the UCI campus. The five-set thriller practically took three hours and the Anteaters got here out on prime (25-20, 26-28, 25-21, 18-25, 26-24).
In set one UCI held management for a lot of the match. The Trojans have been capable of tie it up at 15, however the Anteaters gained again momentum to win the set 25-20. UCI’s service strain, blocking, and protection compelled the boys of Troy to hit .087 for the set. Offensively Flexen and Henno added three kills apiece for the Anteaters.
For set two there was a complete of 19 ties within the back-and-forth set. USC wakened offensively to hit .381 and had 20 kills within the set with solely 4 attacking errors. The Anteaters weren’t far behind with 19 kills within the extremely offensive set. The set ended at 28-26 with three straight USC kills.
In set three the offensive numbers continued for each applications, USC hit .324 and UCI completed the set hitting .421. There have been 14 ties within the set. Late on this set, the Anteaters bought an offensive push from Henno and Flexan to safe the 25-21 win.
The Trojans had all of the management in set 4, they by no means trailed. Freshman exterior hitter Sterling Foley and reverse Jack Deuchar had 4 kills. Center blocker Markus Olsson got here off the bench to supply a spark with three kills. The Anteaters appeared to have misplaced momentum by hitting .156 for the body and USC regarded like they might pull out the victory within the decisive fifth set.
The fifth set was arguably one of the best set of this younger NCAA season. There have been 23 ties, USC hit .364, and UCI hit .519. Each applications have been making unbelievable digs, operating the entire gymnasium, and making excessive volleyball IQ performs. Because the groups have been siding out forwards and backwards, UCI completed the match with two kills from Henno. Flexen and Henno mixed 15 of the 16 kills within the set for UCI.
After the match UCI Head Coach David Kniffin shared his ideas, “Nolan was persistently good from begin to end tonight. Hilir was nice in all of the moments he wanted to be nice. Shane and Joe made some improbable performs. Joe made some performs that solely Joe Karlous could make and Shane was so constant, he made each libero earlier than him proud. Max must be within the dialog for many full participant within the league.”
UCI center blocker Maxim Grigoriev confirmed that he’s an total gifted volleyball participant. For the night time Grigoriev earned 10 blocks, 3 digs, and 4 kills. “The environment was nice. It was a crew effort right this moment. When the rating is that shut you simply flip your mind off and play volleyball. We stayed calm and picked up in these moments.”
Offered by USC:
BOX SCORE: https://usctrojans.com/sports activities/mens-volleyball/stats/2025/uc-irvine/boxscore/34471
Night time One Numbers:
USC:
-Junior, exterior Dillon Kelin 18 kills and 11 digs.
– Freshman, center Parker Tomkinson 10 kills, three blocks, and hit .500.
– Sophomore, setter Caleb Blachette dished out 61 assists and lead Troy to .311 team-hitting proportion.
– Redshirt Senior, reverse Jack Deuchar had a season-best 16 kills and hit .375.
– Freshman, libero Johnny Dykstra scooped up 15 digs, a career-high.
UCI:
-Senior, Nolan Flexan had a career-best 27 kills, 12 digs, and 5 blocks.
-Senior, Hilir Henno contributed 24 kills, 9 digs, and 5 blocks.
-Graduate Pupil, Joe Karlous distributed 73 assists, 15 digs, and had 4 well timed blocks.
-Redshirt Freshman, libero Shane Aitken had 11 digs.
UCI at USC Friday, Feb 14th Recap
UCI cruised as much as LA and dominated USC within the rematch (25-18, 25-22, 25-21). The Trojans did present some struggle in every set, however UCI was regular and constant all night time. It was simply an excessive amount of for the Trojans to deal with. UCI hit .379 in comparison with USC’s .213. The Anteater’s service strain, blocking, and protection compelled the Trojans to make 20 attacking errors for the match.
To open the match UCI had 17 kills within the first set and hit a powerful .500 to win 25-18. Deuchar supplied the offensive pop for the Trojans with eight kills and hitting .700. The Anteaters have been clicking on all cylinders and managed a lot of the set.
In set two UCI continued to dominate offensively. Henno racked up 5 kills within the set. The Anteater’s stellar play for the Trojans to hit .097 and eight attacking errors on the set.
For the ultimate set, each groups traded factors forwards and backwards with 10 ties. The Anteater’s constant offense assault took them excessive to win the set and match 25-21. Flexen and Henno each had 5 kills within the set.
Offered by USC:
BOX SCORE: https://usctrojans.com/sports activities/mens-volleyball/stats/2025/uc-irvine/boxscore/34472
HIGHLIGHTS: https://usctrojans.com/watch/?Archive=8029&kind=Archive
Night time Two Numbers:
-Junior, exterior Dillon Klein completed with 11 kills.
-Redshirt Senior, reverse Jack Deuchar had 18 kills and hit .314.
-Sophomore, Caleb Blanchette handed out 35 assists.
– Senior, Nolan Flexen had 14 kills and hit .346.
-Senior, Hilir Henno had 13 kills and hit .571.
-Graduate pupil, Joe Karlous had 39 assists and led the Anteaters to a .379 hitting proportion for the match.
UCI will proceed to problem themselves within the upcoming week to play two matches towards UCLA. Down the highway, they’ll face the difficult Massive West opponents, and this preseason has ready them nicely to compete for a Massive West title. USC will face some top-level competitors in MPSF convention play and is scheduled to play within the Hawaii Outrigger Invitational towards Penn State, Ball State, and Hawaii.
Each USC and UCI supplied nice info for this text. They’re two of the highest applications within the nation and will likely be competing to win their respective conferences. If these two face off within the NCAA playoffs we are going to seemingly get an epic battle like we had on Wednesday night time on the Bren Heart.
USC Volleyball Historical past:
This system began in 1970.
-Gained 4 NCAA titles (1977, 1980, 1988, and 1990) and have eight second-place finishes.
-Thirty-four first-team All-People, 21 Olympians, and 4 AVCA Gamers of the Yr.
A few of USC Head Coaches:
-Ernie Hix
– Bob Yoder
– Jim McLaughlin
– Pat Powers
– Turhan Douglas
– Invoice Ferguson
– Present Head Coach Jeff Nygaard
Notable Alumni:
-Dusty Dvorak (1984 Gold Medal USA Olympian)
– Pat Energy (1984 Gold Medal USA Olympian and former USC head coach)
– Bob Yoder (3-time All-American and led USC as a head coach to an NCAA title in 1988)
– Steve Timmons (1984 and 1988 Gold Medal USA Olympian)
– Donald Suxho (USA Olympian)
– Brook Billings (USA Olympian)
– Murphy Troy (USA Olympian)
– Micah Christenson (USA Olympian)
Neighborhood Outreach:
This yr Males’s Volleyball was lucky sufficient to accomplice with the Friendship Basis in the beginning of November. The crew helped lead a enjoyable observe on the seaside volleyball courts, educating those that participated how enjoyable volleyball will be. Males’s Volleyball went over primary abilities and finally made groups and performed. General, it was an amazing expertise for the blokes to show and provides again to the neighborhood.
https://www.friendshipfoundation.com
USC Teachers and Information:
-Based in 1880.
– An enrollment of over 49,000 undergraduate and graduate college students.
– 95 undergraduate majors and 147 tutorial {and professional} minors.
– The College of Cinematic Arts, is the biggest and oldest movie faculty in america.
– USC athletes have received 326 medals on the Olympics, probably the most of some other college.
-A number of the prime majors embrace; Enterprise, Cinematic Arts, Communications, Engineering, Journalism, and Structure.
UCI Volleyball Historical past:
Notable Alumni:
Kévin Tillie, 2011–13 (Two-time Nationwide Champ, Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Indoor with France)
David Smith, 2004–07 (Nationwide Champ, 4-time Olympian & Two-time silver medalist for USA Indoor Workforce)
Carson Clark, 2009–12 (Nationwide Champ, UCI Corridor Of Fame)
Jayson Jablonsky, 2004–07 (Nationwide Champ, USA Males’s Volleyball member, 2006 AVCA Nationwide Participant of the Yr)
Brian Thornton, 2004–07 (Nationwide Champ, 2012 Olympian USA Indoor)
Thomas Hodges 2015-17 (2024 Seashore Olympian with Australia)
Success
Convention Championships
MPSF – 2006, 2009, 2015
NCAA Appearances
2006 (Host – Penn State)
Semifinals: Penn St. def. UC Irvine, 3-2 (32-30, 30-23, 31-33, 27-30, 15-13)
2007 (Host – Ohio State)
Semifinals: UC Irvine def. Penn St., 3-1 (30-25, 30-22, 26-30, 30-23)
Championship: UC Irvine def. IPFW, 3-1 (30-20, 24-30, 30-23, 30-28)
2009 (Host – BYU)
Semifinals: UC Irvine def. Ohio State, 3-0 (30-25, 20-25, 20-26)
Championship: UC Irvine def. USC, 3-2 (26-30, 30-23, 26-30, 30-17, 15-12)
2012 (Host – USC)
Semifinals: UC Irvine def. Penn State, 3-1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-19)
Championship: UC Irvine def. USC, 3-0 (25-22, 34-32, 26-24)
2013 (Host – UCLA)
Semifinals: UC Irvine def. Loyola Chicago, 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 29-27)
Championship: UC Irvine def. BYU, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 26-24)
2015 (Host – Stanford)
Semifinals: Loyola Chicago def. UC Irvine 3-0 (22-25, 19-25, 17-25)
2018 (Host UCLA)
Opening Spherical: Ohio State def. UCI 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 16-14)
2024 (Host Lengthy Seashore State)
Opening Spherical: UCI def. Penn State 3-0 (26-24, 25-16, 25-19)
Semifinals: UCLA def. UCI, 3-2 (25-22, 20-25, 16-25, 25-18, 12-15)
UCI Head Coaches:
Bob Newcomb 1970-1974
Miles Pabst 1976-1987
Invoice Ashen 1988-1992
Andy Learn 1993-1996
Charlie Brande 1997-2002
John Speraw 2002-2012
David Kniffin 2012-Current
Nationwide Championships
2007, 2009, 2012 and 2013.
Conferences
Previously within the MPSF and now within the Massive West. UCI was a founding member within the 1992-1993 tutorial season and joined the Massive West in 2017-2018 tutorial season. UCI began within the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Affiliation in 1989.
Teachers:
Location: Irvine, Calif.
Majors: UCI presents over 85 undergraduate majors and 70 minors.
Enrollment: Roughly 30,000 undergraduate and seven,000 graduate college students.
Public establishment
Further notes
Head coach David Kniffin is one in all two head coaches to win an NCAA title in his first yr…
Additionally one of some head coaches who’ve received a nationwide title at their alma mater
Hilir Henno was the 2024 AVCA Nationwide Participant of the Yr in addition to the Massive West Participant of the Yr…he turned UCI’s all-time chief in aces this season and has 205 and counting…the surface hitter turned the all-time Massive West chief final season, passing UCSB’s Ryan Wilcox…Henno holds the UCI and shares the Massive West report for aces in a match with 9 set in 2023 and once more in 2024 and have become the season chief with 87 in 2023. His 87 aces are second-most ever by an NCAA participant.
Kevin Pratte has enthusiastically been concerned in volleyball for over 23 years. Pratte began enjoying in center faculty and was lucky sufficient to play NCAA Division 1 volleyball at The College of the Pacific. After his enjoying profession Pratte bought concerned in teaching volleyball. In 2009 Pratte was the graduate assistant coach for the College of Nebraska ladies’s volleyball program. Later in his profession Pratte made teaching stops at College of the Pacific, a number of neighborhood schools and coached at WAVE Volleyball Membership for seven years. Presently Pratte is a bodily training instructor within the San Diego Unified College District, San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary member, a school volleyball recruiting coordinator, hosts a volleyball podcast present, the proprietor of the Center Hitter web site and runs a non-profit group to assist increase funds to provide boys’ highschool volleyball college students scholarships to play membership volleyball. He’s excited to proceed writing for Volleyball Journal and is keen to cowl the sport.
Basis web site: www.kevinprattefoundation.com
Center Hitter Web site: www.middlehitter.com
KP HERE Podcast: Spotify
