Hilir Henno, UC Irvine  Men's Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week  Sophomore • Outside Hitter • Pornichet, France

• After averaging 5.06 points, 3.88 kills, 1.00 aces and 1.38 digs in a pair of victories, UC Irvine sophomore Hilir Henno picked up a ninth career weekly award, earning a third Big West Men’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week nod.
• The outside hitter broke the UCI season ace record after recording eight last week in a pair of victories over UC Santa Barbara. Henno leads the NCAA with a .941 ace average and now has 64 on the season.
• Along with the service line prowess, Henno started the week with a 18 kills, five aces, eight digs and a block assist in Thursday’s five-setter. Henno’s back-to-back aces early the fifth set got the Anteaters to a 5-3 advantage, a lead they would not relinquish.
• In the second meeting with the Gauchos in Irvine, the lefty finished with a team-high 13 kills, three aces and two block assists in the sweep. The native of Pornichet, France, became the sole leader of the program’s single-season record with an ace in the second set. Henno ended the week with 64 aces and counting, also a Big West season record.

Also Nominated: Nick Amoruso (UC Santa Barbara); Chaz Galloway (Hawai’i); Ryan Ka (UC San Diego); Spencer Olivier (Long Beach State)

Joe Karlous, UC Irvine  Men's Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week  Redshirt Junior • Setter • Costa Mesa, Calif.

• UC Irvine setter Joe Karlous notched a pair of double-doubles against UC Santa Barbara to nab a first career Big West Defensive Player of the Week honor.
• In a five-set victory at UCSB, the junior had 10 digs to go with a season-high 53 set assists. Karlous also chipped in two block assists and an ace in the victory.
• In Friday’s second meeting against the Gauchos, Karlous totaled 11 digs, 33 set assists, two block assists, an ace and a kill in three sets on the court.
• The Costa Mesa, Calif., native averaged 2.63 digs, 0.50 blocks and 10.75 assists per set for the week. Karlous sits in the conference top-10 in assists (8.91 - 5th) and digs (1.90 - 6th) per set, with both figures good for 29th nationally.

Also Nominated: Clarke Godbold (Long Beach State); Ryan Ka (UC San Diego)

Maxim Grigoriev, UC Irvine  Men's Volleyball Freshman of the Week  Freshman • Middle Blocker • Walnut Creek, Calif.

• Maxim Grigoriev helped UC Irvine to a series sweep of UC Santa Barbara to earn back-to-back Big West Men’s Volleyball Freshman of the Week awards.  
• Grigoriev averaged 1.50 kills, 1.88 points and 0.75 blocks, while hitting .474 (12-3-19), playing in all eight sets on the week.
• The first-year middle blocker out of Walnut Creek, Calif., added seven kills, two block assists and two digs in the first meeting then hit .500 in the second, totaling five kills and a team-best four block assists. Two of Grigoriev’s kills on Thursday came in the critical fifth set on the road, including the first point of the decisive frame.
• This is UC Irvine’s fourth Big West Freshman of the Week award for 2023, with William D’Arcy a two-time recipient on Jan. 16 and Feb. 13.

Also Nominated: Connor Bloom (Long Beach State); Josh Schellinger (UC San Diego)
 

2023 Big West Men's Volleyball Weekly Winners