IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine men's volleyball players William D'Arcy and Andrej Jokanovic were tabbed Players of the Week after the Anteaters improved to 5-0 on a home sweep of No. 18 Princeton and road upset over then-No. 3 Pepperdine, 3-1.

D'Arcy claimed Big West Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career, adding to his Freshman of the Week honors in 2023. Jokanovic was tabbed Freshman of the Week, his first Big West honor.

D'Arcy, who came off the bench in every set last week, posted a season-high 19 kills to lead the Anteaters to the upset Pepperdine on the road. He took over the match twice, recording  UCI's final three kills in a 25-23 set one win then after UCI trailed by as many as nine, he controlled the critical second set, scoring five points in the final 10-3 run to win 26-24. In that second set with UCI trailing 16-21, D'Arcy scored four in a row with two kills and two aces to narrow the gap to one then ended the set with the winning kill. It was his first double-figure kill match of the season, tying for the second most in his career. The opposite, who hit .630, ended the match against the Waves with three aces and a season-high five digs. He started the week, hitting .600 (3-0-5) against Princeton, adding two block assists against the Tigers. For the week, the senior averaged 3.14 kills, 3.71 points and 0.71 digs. Entering the week, he leads The Big West and ranks seventh nationally with a .491 hitting percentage.

Jokonvic continued to shine, averaging 3.71 kills, 1.00 digs and 4.07 points per set last week. He led the Anteaters with nine kills versus Princeton, adding an ace and a dig. In the win over the Waves, the outside hitter had a career-high 17 kills plus six digs and an ace. The freshman has led the Anteaters in kills in four of the first five matches.

No. 5 UCI faces another tough road test this week, traveling to No. 8 BYU Friday and Saturday (Jan. 23&24). Both matches begin at 6:00 p.m. PT from Smith Fieldhouse.