Box Score MALIBU, Calif. – It took No. 7 UC Irvine two hours and 40 minutes to beat No. 6 Pepperdine, 3-2 (29-27, 20-25, 25-20, 27-29, 15-9) at Firestone Fieldhouse Wednesday.

UCI out-blocked Pepperdine, 16-6. The Anteaters' 16 blocks are the fourth most in the country this season. The block was led by middle blocker Connor Campbell's season-high eight total blocks (1 solo, 7 assisted). Middle blocker Doug Dahm had a season-best seven total blocks (1 solo, 6 assisted), while outside hitter Francesco Sani posted a career-high six block assists.

The Anteaters also had nine aces and took advantage of 28 Pepperdine service errors. Both squads are 8-3 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Sani led the Anteaters with 17 kills, two aces to go with his six blocks
>Opposite Cole Gillis pounded 15 kills and had two aces and four block assists
>Outside hitter Hilir Henno had four aces and eight kills
>Setter Joe Karlous recorded a double-double with 31 set assists and a season-high tying 13 digs. He also added three block assists
>Pepperdine's Joe Deluzio had a match-high 19 kills followed by Jaylen Jasper's 16 kills.

FIRST SET
>A kill by Francesco Sani and an ace by Hilir Henno started the match, 2-0
>UCI went on a 5-0 run which included back-to-back blocks by Connor Campbell and Joe Karlous, 8-3
>Two at a time, Pepperdine would chip away and close within 11-10 before a kill by Doug Dahm and another ace by Henno put some space back between the teams, 13-10
>A block by the Waves knotted the score at 14-14 then an ace and a kill moved Pepperdine in front, 16-14
>Trailing 15-17, UCI had two more blocks, both by Campbell and William D'Arcy to tie the game at 17s
>A pair of kills by Pepperdine gave the Waves a 20-18 advantage
>The Anteaters used two Pepperdine attack errors to tie it again, 24-24
>A kill by Cole Gillis and another ace by Henno ended the set, 29-27

SECOND SET
>UCI jumped out to an early 4-2 lead on a kill by Sani and two blocks, both assisted by Campbell
>A solo block by Campbell gave UCI a 15-12 lead only to watch Pepperdine score the next three, 15-15
>Tied at 18-18, Pepperdine would score four straight, a UCI service error and three kills, to open a 22-18 lead
>The Waves would score three of the next five points to win 25-20

THIRD SET
>Pepperdine scored the first three points of the set
>A service error by the Waves was followed by two Sani kills, a Campbell kill and a Wave attack error, 8-5
>A 4-1 spurt by UCI, all Wave errors, the last block by D. Dahm, 12-8
>Pepperdine would score three unanswered to creep to 14-13 then would tie the set at 15-15
>A service and attack error by Pepperdine pushed UCI ahead 17-15 only to watch the Waves score the next two to deadlock the set again
>Another Wave attack and service error helped UCI to a 20-18 lead
>A service error was followed by a triple block by Gillis, D. Dahm and Sani, 23-20
>Following a Wave timeout, Pepperdine had back-to-back attack errors, 25-20
>The Waves would hit -.040 (9-10-25), while the Anteaters hit .136 (8-5-22)

FOURTH SET
>Pepperdine started quickly 4-1
>A kill and ace by Sani was part of a 4-0 run to give UCI the 6-4 advantage
>The Waves answered with four of the next five to regain the lead 8-7
>Two UCI errors gave Pepperdine the two-point cushion, 14-12 and two more put the Waves up 18-15
>UCI would take advantage of two Pepperdine mistakes to tie it up at 20-20
>The Waves would fight off three match points and score two in a row to reverse the fortunes until Gillis tied it at 27-27
>Two UCI errors handed Pepperdine the 29-27 victory

FIFTH SET
> UCI had the first two point points, including a block by D. Dahm and Gillis
>A pancake dig by Karlous led to a Sani kill, 4-2
>An ace by Gillis forced a Pepperdine timeout, 6-3
>A block by Sani and Campbell was followed by a Sani ace, 8-5
>Consecutive kills by Campbell and Henno increased the score, 10-6
>Henno dropped in an ace, 13-8
>Conner Dahm laid down an ace to give UCI the 15-9 victory
>Pepperdine hit .000 (3-3-14) in the set

NOTES
>UCI is 2-2 in five set matches this season
>Henno upped his team-leading ace total to 25
>It's the fourth time this season UCI has recorded double-figure blocks

UP NEXT
The teams will head to the Bren Events Center Friday (Feb. 10) to meet again. First serve is 7:00 p.m.