User blog comment:B214/High School DxD New Episode 3 Discussion/@comment-16075832-20130723034745/@comment-16075832-20130723085937

The Light Novels are canon, the anime is merely an adapatation. There are many cuts and lots of information has been cut from the Light Novels to save time.

The dodgeball match was originally against regular students and they were ALL targeting Issei because:

Rias- Most beautiful girl in school

Akeno-Second most beautiful girl in school

Asia-Sweet and innocent

Koneko-School  mascot

Kiba-they would NEVER get a date if they harmed the prince

So Issei was the primary target! lol, he was not amused

The fight with Irina really did happen but he lost after he calculated that he didn't have enough leeway to Boost again and used Boost Explosion prematurely. Irina wa sjust too fast to confortably Boost his power. It was a loss, but his thought process made it seem less pathertic.