IRVINE, Calif. – A balanced offensive attack helped No.5 UC Irvine to a 3-2 victory (25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-8) over No. 16 Stanford at the Bren Events Center Saturday evening.

Senior William D'Arcy led the Anteaters with 16 kills, while totaling three block assist and three digs.

Outside hitter Andrej Jokanovic and middle blocker Trevor Clark each had 12 kills, recording three and four block assists respectively.

Outside hitter Andon Kiriakou had his first career double-double with 10 kills and a career and match-high 14 digs.

The Anteaters remain unbeaten, improving to 9-0 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Setter Cameron Kosty logged 44 set assists, seven digs and three block assists
>Middle blocker Beck Weber was once again a force at the net, recording five block assists
>Libero Shane Aitken scooped 11 digs
>Sophomore Micah Goss had four kills, while freshman Andreas Brinck added three kills. Each player also had a block assist
>Stanford's Alex Rottman had a match-high 19 kills, hitting .455 with seven block assists
>The Cardinal go to 1-6 on the season

FIRST SET
>A kill by Andon Kiriakou was followed by a kill on an overpass by Beck Weber in the middle, 6-4
>Andrej Jokanovic and Weber blocked a ball straight down to take an 9-5 advantage
>Three straight by the Anteaters started with a cross court slam by Jokanovic and ended with back-to-back Cardinal attack errors to extend the margin to 14-7
>Stanford scored three in a row, including a pair of aces before Andreas Brinck had a pair of kills one on each pin, a block by Weber and Jokanovic and a Stanford attack long, giving UCI the 22-15 lead
>Stanford rallied on three points to close to 18-22. UCI head coach David Kniffin took a timeout and a Cardinal service error out of the break stopped the momentum
>Trevor Clark smashed a kill in the middle to end the set, 25-19
>Stanford was held to .031 hitting percentage, with the Anteaters holding a 5-0 blocking advantage
>UCI spread around the offense with five different players recording two kills each

SECOND SET
>Stanford jumped out to an earlier 5-2 lead
>Kills by William D'Arcy and  Jokanovic and a Cardinal attack error tied the set at 10 all
>Back-to-back kills by Stanford increased the lead to 18-16
>Micah Tumas would hang for a one-hand set allowing Brinck to pound the kill off a Cardinal, 18-20
>Back-to-back kills by D'Arcy and Kiriakou made it interesting, 22-23, but Stanford would use an Anteater service error and kill to take the set, 25-22

THIRD SET
>Stanford held a 5-3 lead until kills by Kiriakou and Micah Goss tied the set
>Consecutive kills by Clark and D'Arcy gave some separation 13-9
>Kiriakou ignited the Bren crowd with a blast for a kill, 14-10, and an another at 17-10
>Stanford rallied to close within 14-18 on two kills and an ace
>A kill by D'Arcy gave the Anteaters set point, 24-19
>Following a UCI service error and an apparent attack error by D'Arcy was changed to a kill after a Cardinal player was called in the net for the set-winner, 25-20

FOURTH  SET
>UCI took a 10-8 lead on kills by Clark and D'Arcy
>Kiriakou became a highlight reel, digging a ball with his foot that led to a D'Arcy kill then dug a ball out of bounds and flew back into the court, moving Shane Aitken out of the way for a kill, 13-10
>Back-to-back blocks by Stanford tied the set at 13-13
>The blocks were part of a 5-0 Stanford run stared with a kill and followed by four straight 'Eater attack errors, to move the Cardinal in front 15-13
>Stanford would take advantage of more six more Anteaters errors to end the set, winning 25-19
>Stanford would win the set on the strength of 6.5 blocks. UCI hit .025 (11-10-40)

FIFTH SET
>UCI took control quickly using a block by Kosty and Goss followed by two aces from Kiriakou down the line forcing a Stanford timeout
>Out of the break, Kosty put the ball down on the overpass, 4-0
>Micah Goss knuckled a ball to the back of the court for a kill, 5-2
>A hustle play by D'Arcy to keep the ball in play led to a Stanford ball into the net, 8-3 before a Jokanovic kill ended a 4-0 Anteater spurt, 9-3
>Jokanovic kept his ace streak alive, 11-4
>A Stanford service and attack error had UCI arriving at match point, 14-5
>The Cardinal weren't done using two UCI attack errors and a kill to draw to 8-15
>A Stanford service error followed to end the match 15-8

NOTES
>UCI had a season-low three aces, all in the final set
>The Anteaters are 3-0 in five setters this season
 
UP NEXT
UCI goes back on the road, but not far. The Anteaters play at Vanguard Wednesday (Feb. 4) at 7:30 p.m. then Concordia Friday (Feb. 6) at 7:00 p.m.