CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

ANTEATERS LOCK DOWN THE NET TO BEAT UC SAN DIEGO

Third-seeded UC Irvine spread the offense and turned on the block to beat sixth-seeded UC San Diego 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-14) in a first round match of the Big West Tournament at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Anteater block ignited the win, owning a 12-3 advantage at the net. The Anteaters hit .408 (42-11-76), the sixth best offensive performance of the year.

UCI will take on host and second-seed Hawaii at approximately 10:30 p.m. PT in the second of two semifinals on Friday.

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GAUCHOS USE BIG BLOCKING ADVANTAGE TO DEFEAT CSUN

UC Santa Barbara held a 16.5-3.0 blocking advantage, received 12 kills and a career-high 12 block assists from junior Keenan Sanders, and overcame a two sets to one deficit to earn a 25-16, 25-27, 26-28, 25-13, 15-9 victory over CSUN in a first round Big West Tournament matchup at the Stan Sheriff Center Thursday.

The Gauchos turned on the offensive pressure over the final two sets, hitting an astounding .525 (22-1-40). They received multiple standout efforts, with Big West Freshman of the Year Ryan Wilcox providing a team-high 15 kills on .419 hitting, Corey Chavers slamming 14 and Spencer Fredrick chipping in 13.

Randy DeWeese ran the offense with 58 assists and helped UCSB hit .398 for the match to CSUN's .227.

The Matadors received 19 kills from Ksawery Tomsia and Dimitar Kalchev had two service aces to run his career total to 200 – just the eighth player in NCAA history to reach that benchmark.

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