Anteaters sweep

LOS ANGELES -- Jayson Jablonsky had 13 kills and nine digs as UC Irvine swept USC, 30-26, 30-23, 30-27, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball match Wednesday.

The Anteaters (5-1, 2-0 in conference) have won four matches in a row since losing to UC Santa Barbara in the first round of the Elephant Bar Invitational. All four victories have been three-game sweeps.

Aaron Harrell recorded a match-high eight blocks as UCI outblocked the Trojans, 13-6 1/2 .

The Anteaters took advantage of a USC serving error to win the first game, closing it out on a kill by Harrell. After winning the second game handily, UCI needed to rally in the final game -- tying the score at 26-26 and winning on David Smith’s sixth kill of the match and two errors by the Trojans.

Brian Thornton had 26 assists and an ace for UCI, ranked No. 4 in the nation by the American Volleyball Coaches’ Assn. Matt Webber added eight kills and seven blocks, including one solo block. Paul Spittle chipped in with eight kills, and Jablonsky served up two aces.

Juan Figueroa led USC (3-3, 2-1) with 18 kills, and Joao Grangeiro added 10 kills and nine digs.

The Anteaters continue their road trip with a conference match Friday night at Pepperdine. After that comes a two-match trip to Hawaii to face the Warriors, also in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, on Jan. 25 and 27.