PHOENIX, Ariz. – No. 7 UC Irvine was upended by No. 9 Grand Canyon, 3-1 (19-25, 19-25, 25-12, 22-25) at the GCU Arena Friday evening.

The Grand Canyon defense was the difference, out-digging UCI 28-16. Nine different GCU players recorded a dig in the win. The Antelopes out-hit the Anteaters .415 to .326.

Both teams had five blocks and GCU held a slight edge in serving with an 8-7 ace advantage.

After winning the first seven outings, UCI drops two in a row, 7-2. GCU remains unbeaten at 9-0.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Junior Francesco Sani led UCI with 13 kills and three aces
>Outside hitter Hilir Henno recorded 11 kills, a team-high six digs and three aces
>Freshman William D'Arcy had a career-high nine kills, hitting .692 (9-0-13). He also had an ace and two total blocks
> Middle blocker Doug Dahm added five kills and a team-best three total blocks
>Setter Joe Karlous tallied 37 set assists and three digs
>Jackson Hickman led GCU with 13 kills followed by Christian Janke with 10

FIRST SET
>GCU scored the first two points until Hilir Henno crushed a ball on an overpass, 2-1
>A solo block by Francesco Sani tied the set at 3-3
>A 6-2 spurt by GCU, five on UCI errors moved the 'Lopes out to a 10-6 lead
>Four unanswered by GCU extended the margin to 18-10
>UCI made a move on two solos and kill by by D. Dahm, Kill by William D'Arcy and a GCU attack error, to draw within 17-20
>Following a timeout, the Antelopes scored the next two to regain control, 22-17
>GCU would win the set, 25-19 on the strength of tough serving including three aces

SECOND SET
>GCU made the first move, outscoring UCI 8-2 to take a 15-10 lead
>Back-to-back blocks by GCU made it 18-12
>UCI would answer with the next three points to keep it close, 15-18
>Leading 19-16, the Antelopes used a pair of kills, an ace and a UCI attack error, 23-16
>GCU would win the set 25-19, hitting .632 (14-2-19)

THIRD SET
>Four kills by Sani and aces by Henno and D'Arcy catapulted the Anteaters out to a 9-3 lead
>Five in a row which included kills by Henno, Sani and D'Arcy gave UCI the 17-6 cushion
>Kills by D'Arcy and Connor Campbell was followed by a 'Lopes ball-handling error, 23-9
>A kill by Sani ended the set, 25-12
>UCI hit .650 (15-2-20) with Sani recording eight kills in the game

FOURTH SET
>Grand Canyon opened with a 6-1 lead
>A kill by D'Arcy, a Lopes attack error and an ace by Henno got UCI to 11-13, but GCU answered with the next three
>With GCU leading 23-18 the Anteaters rallied on a kill and block assist by D'Arcy and a kill by D. Dahm, 21-23
>A service error gave GCU set point and after another kill by D. Dahm a kill by Jackson Hickman ended the set 25-22 and match.

NOTES
>Sani extends his ace streak to six straight matches
>Henno ups his ace total to team-best 19

UP NEXT
The two teams will meet again tomorrow at GCU Arena. First serve is 3:00 p.m. PT