The 2024 UC Irvine Anteaters men's volleyball team was the varsity intercollegiate volleyball program of the University of California, Irvine. The team's home venue is Bren Events Center located on campus in Irvine, California. They also play at Crawford Hall for smaller games. UCI has been a member of the Big West Conference since the 2017–18 season, when the league began sponsoring the sport. UC Irvine received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament following a run to the Big West Finals, where they lost to Long Beach State. They ended the season falling 2–3 against eventual NCAA champion UCLA.

Previous season

Last season, UC Irvine finished with a 18–11 record, going 6–4 in the Big West, and finishing third in the conference. They did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Anteaters ended their season losing 1–3 against Hawai'i in the Big West Tournament Finals.

Preseason

Preseason All-Big West Team Source:

Both the preseason All-Big West team, and the Big West Coaches' Poll were released on December 19, 2024. Preseason All-Big West Team Player No. Position Class Hilir Henno 20 Outside Hitter Junior

Big West Coaches' Poll Coaches' Poll 1 Long Beach State 23 (3) 2 Hawai'i 21 (2) 3 UC Irvine 19 (1) 4 UC Santa Barbara 11 T-5 CSUN 8 UC San Diego

Roster Source:  Libero/Defensive Specialists 1 Davis Lau - Graduate Student 3 Cole Power - Graduate Student 8 Gustavo Gomes - RS Junior 30 Shane Aitken - Freshman

Setters 4 Brett Sheward - Graduate Student 7 Aidan Rigg – Freshman (also listed as an opposite hitter) 12 Joe Karlous - RS Senior 22 Aidan Schulten - RS Freshman Middle Blockers 13 Beck Weber - RS Freshman 17 Connor Campbell - Senior 18 Nicolas Restrepo - Freshman 23 Maxim Grigoriev - Sophomore Outside Hitters 2 Akhil Tangutur – Graduate Student 9 Nolan Flexen – Junior 10 Conner Dahm – RS Junior 20 Hilir Henno - Junior

Opposite Hitters 5 William D'Arcy – Sophomore 11 Kobe Brown - Freshman 14 Andon Kiriakou – Freshman

Coaches

David Kniffin – head coach – 12th year Ron Larsen – assistant coach – 1st year Michael Brinkley – assistant coach – 1st year Scott Stadick – assistant coach – 1st year

Schedule Source:

Legend Anteaters win Anteaters loss Postponement*Non-Conference Game

{| class="toccolours" width=95% style="clear:both; margin:1.5em auto; text-align:center;" |- ! colspan=2 style="" | 2024 UC Irvine Anteaters Men's Volleyball Game Log (20–11) |- ! colspan=2 style="" | Regular season (18–9) |- valign="top" | January (5–2) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC January 9 ESPN+ No. 19 George Mason* No. 3 Crawford HallIrvine, California 2–3 (25–21, 22–25, 25–21, 23–25, 12–15) 409 0–1 – January 10 ESPN+ St. Francis* No. 3 Crawford Hall 3–0 (25–21, 25–23, 25–22) 400 1–1 — January 13 ESPN+ No. 15 Princeton* No. 3 Crawford Hall 3–1 (20–25, 25–17, 25–19, 25–18) 697 2–1 — January 17 ESPN+ McKendree* No. 6 Crawford Hall 3–0 (25–17, 25–19, 25–16) 424 3–1 — January 26 BYUtv at No. 8 BYU* No. 7 Smith FieldhouseProvo, Utah 3–1 (22–25, 27–25, 25–18, 25–20) 3,662 4–1 — January 27 BYUtv at No. 8 BYU* No. 7 Smith Fieldhouse 3–2 (23–25, 26–24, 25–18, 23–25, 15–13) 3,880 5–1 — January 31 ESPN+ No. 5 UCLA* No. 7 Bren Events CenterIrvine, California 2–3 (18–25, 15–25, 25–23, 25–21, 9–15) 2,644 5–2 —

February (5–2) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC February 2 Pac-12.com at No. 5 UCLA* No. 7 Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California 1–3 (23–25, 25–23, 26–28, 22–25) 1,917 5–3 — February 7 ESPN+ No. 15 USC* No. 7 Bren Events Center 3–1 (19–25, 25–22, 30–28, 27–25) 1,419 6–3 — February 10 Pac-12.com at No. 15 USC* No. 7 Galen Center Los Angeles, California 1–3 (25–12, 22–25, 23–25, 14–25) 580 6–4 — February 16 Pac-12.com at No. 5 Stanford* No. 7 Burnham PavilionStanford, California 3–1 (28–26, 22–25, 25–19, 25–19) 615 7–4 — February 17 Pac-12 Network at No. 5 Stanford* No. 7 Burnham Pavilion 3–1 (25–22, 25–22, 20–25, 25–21) 957 8–4 — February 23 ESPN+ CUI* No. 5 Crawford Hall 3–0 (25–22, 25–11, 25–21) 603 9–4 — February 24 CUI Website at CUI* No. 5 CU ArenaIrvine, California 3–0 (25–20, 25–16, 25–20) 176 10–4 –

March (6–3) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC March 1 ESPN+ at No. 18 UC San Diego No. 5 LionTree ArenaLa Jolla, California 3–0 (25–19, 25–19, 25–19) 810 11–4 1–0 March 3 ESPN+ No. 18 UC San Diego No. 5 Crawford Hall 3–0 (25–20, 25–23, 25–19) 690 12–4 2–0 Outrigger Invitational March 7 – vs. No. 1 Grand Canyon* No. 5 Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, Hawaii 3–2 (25–21, 19–25, 24–26, 29–27, 15–6) – 13–4 — March 8 – vs. No. 14 Lewis* No. 5 Stan Sheriff Center 2–3 (25–22, 19–25, 25–18, 20–25, 11–15) – 13–5 — March 10 ESPN+ vs. No. 3 Hawai'i* No. 5 Stan Sheriff Center 2–3 (25–23, 19–25, 22–25, 25–17, 13–15) 7,558 13–6 — March 13 ESPN+ No. 19 UC Santa Barbara No. 5 Bren Events Center 3–0 (25–14, 25–22, 25–20) 843 14–6 3–0 March 15 – at No. 19 UC Santa Barbara No. 5 The ThunderdomeSanta Barbara, California 3–0 (25–20, 25–15, 25–22) 873 15–6 4–0 March 29 ESPN+ at No. 16 CSUN No. 3 The MatadomeNorthridge, California 1–3 (21–25, 21–25, 26–24, 18–25) 221 15–7 4–1 March 30 ESPN+ No. 16 CSUN No. 3 Bren Events Center 3–0 (25–22, 25–21, 30–28) 758 16–7 5–1

April (2–2) Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Overall BWC April 5 ESPN+ No. 4 Hawai'i No. 5 Bren Events Center 3–0 (25–20, 25–19, 25–21) 2,058 17–7 6–1 April 6 ESPN+ No. 4 Hawai'i No. 5 Bren Events Center 1–3 (25–22, 25–27, 18–25, 18–25) 2,600 17–8 6–2 April 12 ESPN+ No. 1 Long Beach State No. 4 Bren Events Center 3–0 (25–17, 25–21, 25–21) 2,364 18–8 7–2 April 13 ESPN+ at No. 1 Long Beach State No. 4 Walter Pyramid Long Beach, California 0–3 (25–27, 21–25, 17–25) 4,006 18–9 7–3 |- ! colspan=2 style="" | Postseason (2–2)

(1–1)https://bigwest.org/tournaments/?id=108 Date TV Opponent Rank Stadium Score Sets Attendance Record Postseason Record April 19 ESPN+ vs. No. 5 Hawai'i (3) Semifinals No. 3 (2) Stan Sheriff CenterHonolulu, Hawai'i 3–0 (26–24, 36–34, 25–15) 6,400 19–9 1–0 April 20 ESPN+ vs. No. 2 Long Beach State (1) Finals No. 3 (2) Stan Sheriff Center 1–3 (23–25, 25–21, 16–25, 15–25) 2,334 19–10 1–1

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="margin:auto; width:100%; text-align:center; font-size:95%" ! colspan=14 style="padding-left:4em;" | (1–1) |- ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Date ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | TV ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Opponent ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Rank ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Stadium ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Score ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Sets ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Attendance ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Record ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" | Postseason Record |-bgcolor="bbffbb" | April 30 || NCAA.com || vs. No. 8 Penn State (5) First Round || No. 4 (4) || Walter PyramidLong Beach, California || 3–0 || (26–24, 25–16, 25–19) || 3,024 || 20–10 || 1–0 |-bgcolor="ffbbbb" | May 2 || NCAA.com || vs. No. 2 UCLA (1) Semifinals || No. 4 (4) || Walter Pyramid || 2–3 || (25–22, 20–25, 16–25, 25–18, 12–15) || 3,786 || 20–11 || 1–1

Awards and honors Postseason

AVCA National Player of the Year Honors Player Position Date awarded Player of the Year Hilir Henno Outside Hitter April 28, 2024

AVCA All-Americans Honors Player Position Date awarded First Team Hilir Henno Outside HitterApril 28, 2024 Second Team Cole Power Libero Second Team Brett Sheward Setter Honorable Mention Connor Campbell Middle Blocker Honorable Mention Maxim Grigoriev Middle Blocker

All-Big West Team Honors Player Position Date awarded First Team Maxim Grigoriev Middle BlockerApril 17, 2025 Hilir Henno Outside Hitter Cole Power Libero Brett Sheward Setter

Rankings

References