Box Score  
 
IRVINE, Calif. – Freshman Andrej Jokanovic's career-high 23 kills powered No. 5 UC Irvine to a 3-1 victory (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 26-24) over neighbor Concordia at CU Arena Friday evening.

Jokanovic's 23 kills are the third most by a Big West player and ninth nationally in a four-set match this season. The outside hitter hit .474 (23-5-38) with five digs and two block assists. He kept his ace streak alive with at least one in every match this season.

The 2026 Anteaters did what no other UCI team has been able to do, start the season with 11 straight wins. UC Irvine is now one of three teams with at least six games that remain unbeaten.

HEAD COACH DAVID KNIFFIN SAID:
"I continue to be impressed with this team's ability to problem solve their way through each match and match up and get the job done."

"I think over the last few weeks we've had several moments where guys have walked away from a match unhappy with personal performance, but I like our commitment to being outcome and team focused." 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Senior William D'Arcy recorded 12 kills, three digs, two aces and two block assists
>Middle blocker Micah Goss hit .533 with a season-high nine kills and a career-high six aces
>Middle blocker Lukas Winn was impressive, hitting .800 (4-0-5) with a career-high four kills and four block assists
Setter Cameron Kosty totaled 40 set assists, four kills, four digs and a block assist
>Libero Aidan Cuppett had  a career and match-high eight digs
>Outside hitter Andon Kiriakou added four kills, five digs and three total blocks (2 solo)
>The Anteaters out-aced (11-4) and dug (30-24) Concordia, while the Golden Eagles out-blocked (9.5-7.5) the Anteaters
>Concordia (3-4) was led by Kai Vogel with 15 kills

FIRST SET
>Teams battled back and forth until a 5-1 run by UCI which included a pair of kills by Andrej Jokanovic and was capped by a Micah Goss ace gave some separation 10-7
>UCI seemed in control 14-9 until Concordia scored four in a row to close to 13-14
>Another ace by Goss put UCI at 19-16 before CUI had back-to-back kills, 18-19
>A Golden Eagle service error and a William D'Arcy ace put UCI at set point, 24-21
>D'Arcy pounded the set winner, 25-22

SECOND SET
>UCI jumped out to a 4-1 lead on kills by Goss and Jokanovic and two CUI errors
>A kill and solo block by Andon Kiriakou extended the margin to 7-3
>Back-to-back kills by Goss and Jokanovic forced a Concordia timeout, 11-5
>A Concordia kill and block closed the gap, 10-13
>Three in a row by UCI, a CUI service error, ace by Lukas Winn and a block by Kiriakou, 18-12
>Concordia exploded for six unanswered to take a 20-19 lead. UCI had four attack errors in the run, including by two Golden Eagles blocks
>A kill by Cameron Kosty stopped the momentum, 20-20
>A pair of CUI kills ended the set, 26-24

THIRD SET
>Concordia would hold an 8-7 lead before UCI used a kill and ace by D'Arcy and a Golden Eagle error to move the Anteaters back up front
>A kill and ace by Goss moved the lead to 15-10
>Kills by D'Arcy and Kiriakou forced as CUI timeout, 20-15
>After a kill by Jokanovic, UCI led 21-15, but CUI answered on a kill, block and UCI attack error, 21-18
>UCI got to set point, 24-20 on a kill by Winn, but the Golden Eagles wouldn't go away scoring the next two
>Following a UCI timeout, D'Arcy put down the winner, 25-22

FOURTH SET
>Jokanovic took over after CUI led 10-8, recording a block assist, ace and two kills to tie the set 12-12
>Concordia responded with the next five, 17-12
>Kill by Kosty was followed by a Golden Eagles attack error and a block by Goss and Kosty ti make it interesting 17-20
>Down 17-21, UCI rallied on five in a row, using a kill from Goss and block by Winn and Jokanovic, ace by Goss, kill by Jokanovic and CUI attack error, 22-21
>Teams would trade points until kills by Kiriakou and D'Arcy ended the match, 26-24

NOTES
>UCI's 11 aces are the second most this season by the club
>Jokanovic has posted double-digit kills in each of the last seven matches

UP NEXT
Next Wednesday (Feb. 11) at the Bren Events Center, a showdown of two of the unbeaten teams pits No. 4 USC (6-0) against No. 5 UC Irvine (11-0). First serve is 6:00 p.m.