THIS WEEK
No. 18 Princeton vs No. 7 UC Irvine
Wednesday, Jan. 14 | 6:00 PM | Bren Events Center
Stats    

No. 7 UC Irvine vs No. T3 Pepperdine
Friday, Jan. 16 | 6:00 PM | Firestone Fieldhouse
Stats   Watch: B1G+ (subscription required)


FIRST SERVE
No. 7 UC Irvine makes its home debut Wednesday (Jan. 14) against No. 18 Princeton at 6:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters end the week at No. 3 Pepperdine at Firestone Fieldhouse Friday (Jan. 16). First serve is 6:00 p.m.

This will be UCI's last visit to Firestone Fieldhouse as the Waves will be moving to the Mountain at Mullin Park for the 2026-27 season.
 
STORYLINES
Seventh-ranked UC Irvine opened the season 3-0 at the Asics Invitational, sweeping Harvard, Kentucky State and Maryville.

Entering the week, UCI is one of 19 teams that are undefeated in 2026 and five that are 3-0.

The Anteaters hit .460 (107-20-189) over the three matches, including a season-best .580 (32-6-50) against Kentucky State. UCI went errorless after the first set (20-0-34).

Over the three matches, UCI out-aced (25-1), out-blocked (21-4)  and out-hit (.460-.010) its opponents.

Freshman Andrej Jokanovic leads the Anteaters with a 3.33 kill average which is fourth-best in the Big West. Junior Andon Kiriakou follows at 2.22 kills per set. 

Newcomer Trevor Clark made an immediate impact, averaging 1.67 blocks, which leads the Big West. The San Diego Mesa transfer did not commit an attacking error last week, hitting .783 (18-0-23).

Returning All-American Shane Aitken leads the defense, averaging 2.33 digs per set.

VERSUS THE OPPONENTS
UCI holds an 18-2 series advantage over Princeton, winning the last 15 meetings.

UCI and Princeton last met on Jan. 13, 2024 with the Tigers taking the first set then the Anteaters taking control to finish the final three sets.

Beck Weber was the only Anteater currently on the roster that played that night. The middle blocker added had five block assists and three kills.

Wednesday will be Princeton's season opener. 

The Tigers had exhibition tune-ups against Toronto Metropolitan (TMU) and McMaster, beating both 3-1.  

Princeton was picked to finish fourth in the EIVA preseason poll with Mason Rice and Ryan Vena were named EIVA preseason players to watch. 

The Tigers went 15-11 last season and were the EIVA regular season champions. They fell in the EIVA Championship title match to Penn State.

Pepperdine, who is tied for third nationally, has started the season 2-0 with sweeps over St, Thomas Aquinas and Daemen.

Friday is the last contest in a three-match home stretch for the Waves.

UCI has won the last three meetings, including a pair of wins in 2023. The last time the teams met in 2023, the Anteaters won 3-2 in Irvine and 3-1 in Malibu.

In 2025, Pepperdine won the MPSF Championship and lost to eventual national champion Long Beach State in the NCAA semi-finals.

UCI's Micah Goss was a teammate of Pepperdine's Cole Hartke on the United States U21 team that won a bronze in the FIVB World Championship.

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The Anteaters lead the nation in opponents hitting percentage (.010) and are ranked second in hitting percentage (.460), third in aces (2.78) and 13^th in digs (8.67).

Trevor Clark is second in the country in blocks with a 1.67 average, while Andrej Jokanovic ranks sixth in the country in hitting percentage (.578) and is 12^th in aces (0.778).

Clark recorded seven total blocks versus Harvard which are tied for second most in the country this season.