Honolulu, Hawaii – Three Anteater players recorded double-figure kills, including Dan McDonnell with a career-high 12 as No. 2 UC Irvine defeated No. 12 Hawaii, 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-19) at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday.

Senior opposite Carson Clark led all players with 23 points, putting away 19 kills and recording two aces and three block assists to go with nine digs. Sophomore outside hitter Jeremy Dejno had 15 kills and three service aces, while senior middle blocker Dan McDonnell had a career-high 12 kills and four block assists. Setter Daniel Stork collected 48 set assists and seven digs and libero Michael Brinkley had a team-best 10 digs.

Steven Hunt had 19 kills to lead Hawaii followed by Taylor Averill with 10 kills.

Hawaii held a 19-15 lead in the first set, before UCI rallied to tie the game at 22-22 on a block by Dan McDonnell and Kevin Tillie. The Warriors would score three of the next four points to take the set 25-23.

The Anteaters held a 19-14 advantage on a Jeremy Dejno service ace in the second set, but Hawaii scored the next four points to narrow the lead to 19-18. A kill by McDonnell in the middle stopped the scoreless streak and the Anteaters went on to a 25-20 win.

In the third set, a serving and attack mistake by UCI gave Hawaii a three-point cushion, 11-8 and the Warriors continued to lead 17-14. UCI then went on a 4-1 run, which included two kills by Carson Clark to knot the score at 18-18. The teams traded points until a kill by McDonnell was followed by a Hawaii attack error to put UCI ahead 21-20. Back-to-back kills by Clark gave UCI the 23-21 edge, but following a UH timeout the Warriors scored two straight to tie the set at 23-23. Following an Irvine timeout, another kill by Clark and a solo block by Austin D'Amore gave the Anteaters the 25-23 victory.

In the fourth set, two consecutive Hawaii miscues gave the Anteaters a 14-12 lead. UCI continued to lead 19-17 before McDonnell had a kill and a solo block (21-17) and the Anteaters would go on to take the set, 25-19 and the match, 3-1. UCI hit .522 to Hawaii's .207 in the final game.

The two teams meet again on Sunday (Feb. 12) at 7:00 p.m. PT.

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