UCI Wins Epic 5 Set Battle and sweeps USC in a home and home series

For KP’S NCAA Division I Match of the Week the number two ranked UCI Anteaters took on the fifth-ranked USC Trojans on Wednesday, February 12th, and Friday, February 14th.  These two matches were highly anticipated.  USC went into the week red hot with a (9-0) record racking wins up against Ohio State and Penn State.  The Trojans have a relatively young team, but many of their underclassmen cracking the starting lineup are some of the top recruits in the country and have gained valuable experience with the USA youth national team.  UCI also came into the match undefeated (8-0) with two victories against BYU and two road wins at Stanford.  The Anteaters are led by senior opposite Nolan Flexan, from New Mexico who started his career at Master’s College and transferred to UCI.  Hilar Henno is a senior outside of France and the 2024 AVCA National Player of the Year.

The first match was played in the Bren Event Center on the UCI campus.  The five-set thriller nearly took three hours and the Anteaters came out on top (25-20, 26-28, 25-21, 18-25, 26-24).

In set one UCI held control for most of the match.  The Trojans were able to tie it up at 15, but the Anteaters gained back momentum to win the set 25-20. UCI’s service pressure, blocking, and defense forced the men 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 total of 19 ties in the back-and-forth set.  USC woke up offensively to hit .381 and had 20 kills in the set with only four attacking errors.  The Anteaters were not far behind with 19 kills in the highly offensive set.  The set ended at 28-26 with three straight USC kills.

In set three the offensive numbers continued for both programs, USC hit .324 and UCI finished the set hitting .421.  There were 14 ties in the set.  Late in this set, the Anteaters got an offensive push from Henno and Flexan to secure the 25-21 win.

The Trojans had all the control in set four, they never trailed.  Freshman outside hitter Sterling Foley and opposite Jack Deuchar had four kills.  Middle blocker Markus Olsson came off the bench to provide a spark with three kills.  The Anteaters seemed to have lost momentum by hitting .156 for the frame and USC looked like they could pull out the victory in the decisive fifth set.

The fifth set was arguably the best set of this young NCAA season.  There were 23 ties, USC hit .364, and UCI hit .519.  Both programs were making incredible digs, running all of the gym, and making high volleyball IQ plays.  As the teams were siding out back and forth, UCI finished the match with two kills from Henno.  Flexen and Henno combined 15 of the 16 kills in the set for UCI.

After the match UCI Head Coach David Kniffin shared his thoughts, “Nolan was consistently good from start to finish tonight. Hilir was great in all the moments he needed to be great. Shane and Joe made some fantastic plays. Joe made some plays that only Joe Karlous can make and Shane was so consistent, he made every libero before him proud. Max should be in the conversation for most complete player in the league.”

UCI middle blocker Maxim Grigoriev showed that he is an overall gifted volleyball player.  For the night Grigoriev earned 10 blocks, 3 digs, and four kills. “The atmosphere was great. It was a team effort today. When the score is that close you just turn your brain off and play volleyball. We stayed calm and collected in those moments.”

Provided by USC:

BOX SCORE: https://usctrojans.com/sports/mens-volleyball/stats/2025/uc-irvine/boxscore/34471

Night One Numbers:

USC:

-Junior, outside Dillon Kelin 18 kills and 11 digs.

– Freshman, middle Parker Tomkinson 10 kills, three blocks, and hit .500.

– Sophomore, setter Caleb Blachette dished out 61 assists and lead Troy to .311 team-hitting percentage.

– Redshirt Senior, opposite 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 five blocks.

-Senior, Hilir Henno contributed 24 kills, nine digs, and five blocks.

-Graduate Student, Joe Karlous distributed 73 assists, 15 digs, and had four timely blocks.

-Redshirt Freshman, libero Shane Aitken had 11 digs.

UCI at USC Friday, Feb 14th Recap

UCI cruised up to LA and dominated USC in the rematch (25-18, 25-22, 25-21).  The Trojans did show some fight in each set, but UCI was steady and consistent all night.  It was just too much for the Trojans to handle. UCI hit .379 compared to USC’s .213.  The Anteater’s service pressure, blocking, and defense forced the Trojans to make 20 attacking errors for the match.

To open the match UCI had 17 kills in the first set and hit an impressive .500 to win 25-18.  Deuchar provided the offensive pop for the Trojans with eight kills and hitting .700.  The Anteaters were clicking on all cylinders and controlled most of the set.

In set two UCI continued to dominate offensively.  Henno racked up five kills in the set.  The Anteater’s stellar play for the Trojans to hit .097 and eight attacking errors on the set.

For the final set, both teams traded points back and forth with 10 ties.  The Anteater’s consistent offense attack took them over the top to win the set and match 25-21.  Flexen and Henno both had five kills in the set.

Provided by USC:

BOX SCORE: https://usctrojans.com/sports/mens-volleyball/stats/2025/uc-irvine/boxscore/34472

HIGHLIGHTS: https://usctrojans.com/watch/?Archive=8029&type=Archive

Night Two Numbers:

-Junior, outside Dillon Klein finished with 11 kills.

-Redshirt Senior, opposite Jack Deuchar had 18 kills and hit .314.

-Sophomore, Caleb Blanchette passed out 35 assists.

– Senior, Nolan Flexen had 14 kills and hit .346.

-Senior, Hilir Henno had 13 kills and hit .571.

-Graduate student, Joe Karlous had 39 assists and led the Anteaters to a .379 hitting percentage for the match.

UCI will continue to challenge themselves in the upcoming week to play two matches against UCLA.  Down the road, they will face the challenging Big West opponents, and this preseason has prepared them well to compete for a Big West title.  USC will face some top-level competition in MPSF conference play and is scheduled to play in the Hawaii Outrigger Invitational against Penn State, Ball State, and Hawaii.

Both USC and UCI provided great information for this article.  They are two of the top programs in the country and will be competing to win their respective conferences.  If these two face off in the NCAA playoffs we will likely get an epic battle like we had on Wednesday night at the Bren Center.

USC Volleyball History:

The program started in 1970.

-Won four NCAA titles (1977, 1980, 1988, and 1990) and have eight second-place finishes.

-Thirty-four first-team All-Americans, 21 Olympians, and four AVCA Players of the Year.

Some of USC Head Coaches:

-Ernie Hix

– Bob Yoder

– Jim McLaughlin

– Pat Powers

– Turhan Douglas

– Bill Ferguson

– Current Head Coach Jeff Nygaard

Notable Alumni:

-Dusty Dvorak (1984 Gold Medal USA Olympian)

– Pat Power (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)

Community Outreach:

This year Men’s Volleyball was fortunate enough to partner with the Friendship Foundation at the beginning of November. The team helped lead a fun practice on the beach volleyball courts, teaching those who participated how fun volleyball can be. Men’s Volleyball went over basic skills and eventually made teams and played. Overall, it was a great experience for the guys to teach and give back to the community.

https://www.friendshipfoundation.com

USC Academics and Facts:

-Founded in 1880.

– An enrollment of over 49,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

– 95 undergraduate majors and 147 academic and professional minors.

– The School of Cinematic Arts, is the largest and oldest film school in the United States.

– USC athletes have won 326 medals at the Olympics, the most of any other university.

-Some of the top majors include; Business, Cinematic Arts, Communications, Engineering, Journalism, and Architecture.

UCI Volleyball History:

Notable Alumni:

Kévin Tillie, 2011–13 (Two-time National Champ, Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist Indoor with France)

David Smith, 2004–07 (National Champ, Four-time Olympian & Two-time silver medalist for USA Indoor Team)

Carson Clark, 2009–12 (National Champ, UCI Hall Of Fame)

Jayson Jablonsky, 2004–07 (National Champ, USA Men’s Volleyball member, 2006 AVCA National Player of the Year)

Brian Thornton, 2004–07 (National Champ, 2012 Olympian USA Indoor)

Thomas Hodges 2015-17 (2024 Beach Olympian with Australia)

Success

Conference 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 Round: Ohio State def. UCI 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 16-14)

2024 (Host Long Beach State)

Opening Round: 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

Bill Ashen 1988-1992

Andy Read 1993-1996

Charlie Brande 1997-2002

John Speraw 2002-2012

David Kniffin 2012-Present

National Championships

2007, 2009, 2012 and 2013.

Conferences

Formerly in the MPSF and now in the Big West. UCI was a founding member in the 1992-1993 academic season and joined the Big West in 2017-2018 academic season. UCI started in the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Association in 1989.

Academics:

Location: Irvine, Calif.

Majors: UCI offers over 85 undergraduate majors and 70 minors.

Enrollment: Roughly 30,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate students.

Public institution

Additional notes

Head coach David Kniffin is one of two head coaches to win an NCAA title in his first year…

Also one of a few head coaches who have won a national title at their alma mater

Hilir Henno was the 2024 AVCA National Player of the Year as well as the Big West Player of the Year…he became UCI’s all-time leader in aces this season and has 205 and counting…the outside hitter became the all-time Big West leader last season, passing UCSB’s Ryan Wilcox…Henno holds the UCI and shares the Big West record for aces in a match with nine set in 2023 and again in 2024 and became the season leader with 87 in 2023. His 87 aces are second-most ever by an NCAA player.

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