PALO ALTO, Calif. – No. 2 UC Irvine outlasted No. 9 Stanford in a marathon third set to clinch a 3-0 victory (25-23, 25-18, 33-31) at Maples Pavilion Saturday night.

The Anteaters, who remain unbeaten at 7-0, bettered the Cardinal in blocks (12.5-6.5) and aces (6-2). UCI's 12.5 blocks are tied for the most this season. Freshman Micah Goss had a match-best seven total blocks, including one solo.

UC Irvine took advantage of 19 Stanford service errors, including 12 in the third set.

Senior Hilir Henno paced UCI with 13 kills, eight digs and three aces.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Opposite Nolan Flexen had nine kills, six digs and a career-high six block assists
>Goss had seven kills to go with his seven blocks
>Outside hitter Tim Ennis added three kills, three block assists and two digs
>Setter Joe Karlous totaled 19 set assists, six digs and two kills
> Libero Shane Aitken  had six digs
>Stanford Theo Snoey put away a match-best 15 kills

FIRST SET
>Stanford started a 3-1 lead and continued to be on top 9-5 on an ace
>Setter Joe Karlous would swing and put away a kill on the overpass to try and spark the Anteaters, 7-10
>Tim Ennis and Micah Goss had a block then Goss and Nolan Flexen had another to narrow the margin, 10-11
>A tough serve by Goss forced an overpass that Maxim Grigoriev deposited on the other side to tie the set at 12-12
>Stanford moved back out to a 15-13 advantage
>A 7-1 run by the Anteaters, two on Hilir Henno kills and two Grigoriev aces pushed UCI in front 20-17
>Huge block by Flexen and Goss was followed by a Cardinal attack long and another block by Goss and Flexen for set point, 24-19
>Stanford would go away, scoring the next four points to draw to 23-24
>Flexen would stop the rally and end the set with a kill, 25-23
 
SECOND SET
>For a second consecutive set, the Cardinal jumped out to a 3-1 lead
>Back-to-back kills by Henno gave UCI the 4-2 lead
>Four in a row for UCI, started by a Flexen kill and ended by another, 8-5
>Stanford would score the next three to tie the set before UCI rattled off the next four the first three on blocks, two by Ennis and Grigoriev, 12-8
>Henno crushed a ball from the backrow after Shane Aitken tracked down the ball at the UCI bench then Aidan Rigg had a solo block to send UCI to the media timeout with a 15-11 lead
>An incredible dig by Flexen allowed Henno to softly place a kill in the corner, 16-11
>Goss would record a solo block then unloaded for a kill in the middle (22-15) then went wrist away for a kill, 23-16
>A Cardinal attack error handed UCI the 25-18 win

THIRD SET
>Once again an early Cardinal lead started the set, 4-1
>A triple block by Goss, Flexen and Henno then an ace by Henno and a Cardinal into the net went as a kill for Ennis to deadlock the set 4-4
>After a break for a review, Henno went back and rocketed an ace then had another off-speed, 6-4
>Three in a row by Stanford, two on UCI errors gave the Cardinal the 9-8 lead
>Stanford led 15-12 after a 5-1 run which included three UCI errors  
>Kills by Goss and Flexen are part of 3-0 run to close to 16-17
>Teams would trade points back and forth until a Cardinal service error was followed by a Flexen kill cross court to tie the set at 23s
>William D'Arcy would tap the ball over for match point only to watch Stanford flip the script with back-to-back kills by Theo Snoey, 25-24
>It would flip again on a Cardinal service error and a block by Grigoriev, Henno and Karlous and 27-26
>They would play on until the 12^th Stanford service error of the set was followed by an ace from Flexen to end the set 33-31 and match
>UCI would win despite hitting .195 (14-6-41) to Stanford's .450 (21-3-40)

NOTES
>UCI's 12.5 blocks is tied for fifth most in a three set match this season

UP NEXT
UCI will head across Irvine to face Concordia next Saturday (Feb. 8) at 7:00 p.m.