IRVINE, Calif. -- No. 5 UC Irvine could not hold off No. 2 Hawaii in a five set loss (22-25, 25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 16-18) at the Bren Events Center in front of a crowd of 2,397.

The Anteaters hit .389 (44-9-90) over the first three sets then just .172 (22-12-58) in the last two. Hawaii turned up the defense with six blocks and 20 digs in the final frames. UH ended the match out-blocking UCI 10.5-8.0.

UCI was led by freshman Andrej Jakonovic with 22 kills, one shy of his career-high. The outside hitter recorded eight digs, two aces and four block assists which ties his career-best.

Senior William D'Arcy put away 14 kills and had four digs and two block assists, while middle blocker Micah Goss had a season and match-high six total blocks (one solo) to go with 12 kills.

Setter Cameron Kosty had a career-best 54 set assists plus six digs, three kills and a block assist. His 54 set assists are third most in the Big West this season

UCI goes to 15-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big West, while Hawaii is 22-3 overall and 5-0 in Big West play.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Libero Shane Aitken and outside hitter Andon Kirikou led UCI with 11 digs, while Kirikou added eight kills
>Middle blocker Trevor Clark totaled seven kills, three digs, two block assists and an ace
>Hawaii was led by Kristin Titriyski's 16 kills. Setter Tread Rosenthal had 53 set assists, 10 digs, six block assists and nine kills
>Hawaii hit slightly better than UC Irvine .325 to .304
>Each team had four aces

FIRST SET
>A block gave Hawaii a 10-7 lead before UCI ripped off five straight including three kills by Andrej Jokanovic to move in front 12-10
>Hawaii would score three in a row on a pair of kills and an ace to move back on top 17-15
>The Anteaters answered with kill by William D'Arcy and Trevor Clark, 18-18
>UH out-scored UCI 5-2 to move out to a 23-20 lead.
>An Anteater into the net ended the set with Hawaii winning 25-22

SECOND SET
>After UH started the set with a kill, UCI rattled off three straight on a Hawaii service error, kill by Jokanovic and Warrior attack error, 3-1
>Three consecutive attacking errors by UH, one on a block by Micah Goss and D'Arcy, gave the Anteaters a 14-9 lead
>A kill by Jokanovic, UH attack error and an ace by Clark opened a 21-16 advantage
>D'Arcy had a two-handed slam to put UCI up 23-18
>Kills by Andon Kiriakou and Clark  ended the set, 25-19 

THIRD SET
>Teams stayed close until a Hawaii ace gave the 'Bows a 9-6 lead
>A kill by Clark and two by Jokanovic tied the score at 9-9
>A block by Jokanovic and Goss was followed by a Hawaii attack error and an ace by Jokanovic, 14-12
>UH responded with the next four to take a 16-14 lead
>Hawaii would lead 18-15 before a kill by Kiriakou and an ace by D'Arcy narrowed the lead to 17-18
>Following a UH kill, Kirikou tipped the ball to the back corner then Jokanovic and Clark rejected a Hawaii attack and Jokanovic knocked it off the block for a kill and a 20-19 UCI lead
>A pair of kills, the last on an overpass helped Hawaii to a 22-21 lead
>UCI took advantage of UH service errors and had a solo block by Goss in the middle for set point 24-23
>Goss would put away the set winner, 25-23
>Six different players had two or more kills during the set as UCI hit .344 (15-4-32) with three blocks and two aces

FOURTH SET
>A UH service error and kills by Kosty and Jokanovic helped the Anteaters to a quick 3-1 lead
>A kill and block assist by Goss made it 5-3 and another Goss kill put UCI up 7-4
>UH would catch UCI at 10 and take a 12-11 lead on a kill and block
>A 5-1 Hawaii run which saw two kills and three unforced UCI errors put the 'Bows on top 19-18
>A kill and block gave UH some separation, 21-19
>Hawaii would win the set 25-23 and keep the match going
>After hitting over .300 in each of the first three sets, UCI hit just .152 (13-8-33)

FIFTH SET
>Hawaii jumped out to the quick 5-1 lead, three courtesy of UCI errors
>Three in a row by the Anteaters on kills from D'Arcy and Kiriakou and an ace by Jokanovic, inched UCI closer (5-6) only to watch the 'Bows score the next two to stretch the lead back out to 8-5
>UCI exploded for five in a row, including two Jokanovic kills and back-to-back Hawaii attack errors, 13-11
>Hawaii answered with the next three for set point, 14-13
>Following a UCI timeout, a UH service kept the match going and it would go back-and-forth until Hawaii used an Anteater service error and attack error to end the match 18-16

 NOTES
>Jokanovic posted 20 or more kills for the third time in his career
>D'Arcy has 15 consecutive matches with double-figure kills
>All four of UCI's losses this season have come in five sets to teams in the Top 8 and three to Top 5 teams

UP NEXT
The teams will meet again tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.