Los Angeles, Calif. – Seniors Kyle Russell, Jason Agopian and Marty Ross recorded career-high kills to help No. 12 UC Irvine knock-off No. 2 UCLA 3-2 (25-17, 17-25, 25-23, 24-26, 20-18) at Pauley Pavilion Thursday night.
Not only did Russell put away a personal best 21 kills, he posted a career-high seven total blocks as well as a season-high 11 digs and three aces. Agopian totaled a career-high 13 kills to go with five blocks, while Marty Ross hit .600 with a career-high seven kills and team and career-best eight blocks.
UCI opposite Thomas Hodges added six kills and three aces, while setter Dante Chakravorti recorded 49 set assists and six digs. Outside hitter Tucker Pikula contributed five kills and seven digs, while libero David Parker had 10 digs in the win.
Jake Arnitz topped UCLA with 14 kills followed by JT Hatch with 13 kills. Mitch Stahl had nine kills and a match-high nine total blocks.
The Anteaters (4-8, 3-7) win their first match on the road this season and hand UCLA their second loss of the season (11-2, 7-2) and first home loss.
A kill and solo block by Marty Ross plus a kill by Reid Dominguez gave UCI an 11-8 lead in the first set. A kill by Tucker Pikula and consecutive attack errors by the Bruins stretched the Anteater lead to 18-14. The Anteaters would hit .615 (9-1-13) and win the set 25-17.
In the second set, a pair of Bruin kills and a UCI attack error gave UCLA an early 6-3 advantage. With UCLA leading 18-11, UCI scored four straight to narrow the deficit to 18-15, but the Bruins would end the set on a 7-2 run and win 25-17.
UCI took control of the third set 5-1 until UCLA responded and tied the game at 9-9. With score tied at 12-12, a Kyle Russell kill was followed by back-to-back Anteater blocks to open a 15-12 lead. The Anteaters were up 18-14 before UCLA would go on a 6-1 spurt to take a 20-19 lead. The teams would trade points until 23-23 when a kill by Jason Agopian preceded an ace by Kyle Russell to give UCI the 25-23 victory.
After a closely contested fourth set, Mitch Stahl kill for the Bruins and a block by Stahl and Hagen Smith gave UCLA the 26-24 win to force a final set.
After UCLA service error gave UCI a 13-11 lead, but the Bruins would score the next two to knot the set at 13 all. Back-to-back kills by Thomas Hodges ended the night, 20-18 in favor of the Anteaters.
UCI will visit CSUN next Wednesday (Feb. 17) at 7:00 p.m. in the Matadome.
