What do you get when you combine the most creative offensive threat in college volleyball, a calm, cool and collected setter, a pair of tall, powerful athletes at the pins, a savvy offensive player with superior passing skills, athletic middle blockers on both sides of the ball, a libero that was one of the nation's best, a top gun serving specialist and a supporting crew that was ready to step in and perform at any point? The answer is a highly successful UC Irvine team.
The Anteaters finished the year 20-11 and advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship.
UCI, the fourth-seed, swept fifth-seeded Penn State to start the NCAAs before falling 3-2 to No. 1 UCLA in a thrilling semifinal.
The Anteaters advanced to the Big West Championship match for the second consecutive season.
BY THE NUMBERS
UCI had 20 wins for the 10th time in program history and returned to the NCAA Championship for the eighth time.
UCI finished second in the Big West with a 7-3 record and ended the year ranked No. 4 nationally.
The Anteaters had 16 wins over ranked opponents including six against Top 5 opponents.
UCI toppled two No. 1 teams: Long Beach State and Grand Canyon.
Five of the team's 11 losses came in five sets.
HIGH FLYING OFFENSE
UCI led the country in kills (13.24) and assists (12.53). They were also ranked eighth in hitting percentage (.326).
The Anteaters held three of the top four kill marks in the Big West this season, including a league-best 73 versus Lewis.
UCI had 65 kills against USC which is tied for second most in the country in a four-set match in 2024.
UC Irvine hit over .400 or better five times in 2024.
HONORS, HONORS and MORE HONORS
Junior Hilir Henno became one of the most decorated players in history after being named American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Year. He is the sixth UCI student-athlete in any sport to earn the distinction and joins Jayson Jablonsky (2006) as the only two men's volleyball players.
Henno was the Big West Player of the Year and tabbed first team All-American and first team All-Big West choice as well as Off The Block's Karch Kiraly and Nicolas Szerszen award winner.
He earned Big West Offensive Player of the Week four times and was named National Player of the Week on Feb. 20 after helping the Anteaters to a pair of wins at Stanford.
The outside hitter led the country in points (5.52) and was second nationally in kills (4.76), eighth in hitting percentage (.373) and 18th in aces (.419).
He pounded a career-high 36 kills versus Hawaii, hitting .412 (36-8-68), the most kills by a Big West player this season and second most in the country.
The junior fired a Big West and UCI record nine aces versus Princeton and became the Big West career leader in aces with 181 and counting. The junior ended the year two aces shy of tying the UCI career ace record held by Carson Clark at 183 from 2009-12.
Henno wasn't the only Anteater to be recognized as setter Brett Sheward, libero Cole Power, and middle blockers Maxim Grigoriev and Connor Campbell also picked up several accolades.
Sheward joined the Anteaters for his final year and earned second team All-American and first team All-Big West honors. He ranked second in the country in set assists with a 10.50 average and posted a career-high 58 set assists versus then-No. 1 GCU and 22 digs at Hawaii, both the most by a Big West player in 2024. His 56 set assists against USC are second-most nationally in a four-set match this season.
Power was the heart of the UCI defense, earning second team All-American and first team All-Big West distinction. The senior averaged 1.93 digs per set, which is second in the Big West. He had 10 double-digit dig performances, including a season-best 15 digs in a win over Grand Canyon.
Grigoriev was a first team All-Big West honoree and was named honorable mention All-American. The sophom*ore was sixth in the Big West in hitting percentage (.335), eighth in blocks (0.89), 12th in points (2.98) and 16th in kills (2.17). Against Big West opponents, the sophom*ore led the league in hitting percentage with a .500 mark (59-10-98). He was second on the team in aces with 36. He recorded double-digit kills 10 times, including a career-best 17 in a win over USC. Grigoriev hit over .500 eight times, including an .818 performance versus UC Santa Barbara (9-0-11).
Campbell closed out his Anteater with an All-American honorable mention honor. He ranked 15th in the country in blocks at 0.97 per set. The senior was second in the Big West in hitting percentage with a .386 mark, hitting over .500 10 times, including over .800 twice this season. Campell had a career-best .846 (11-0-13) performance against Concordia. He totaled five or more blocks nine times, including a season-best eight total blocks (1 solo) at BYU.
POWER AT THE PINS
Nolan Flexen, William D'Arcy and Akhil Tangutur each made impacts at the pins this season.
Flexen played in 66 sets and averaged 2.75 kills and 3.19 points, which was 10th in each category among Big West players. He pounded a career-best 20 kills, while hitting .667 (20-2-27) versus Princeton. Flexen led UCI with 18 kills and six block assists in the second win at BYU.
D'Arcy was 13th in the Big West in points with a 2.93 average. The junior averaged 2.56 kills and 1.31 digs per set. The opposite had nine matches with double-digit kills, including a career-high 19 versus Grand Canyon. He also hit .548 and had 11 digs versus the 'Lopes.
Tangutur saw action in 97 sets and averaged 1.09 kills and 1.21 digs per set. He added 14 service aces.
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