No. 18 CSUN at No. 6 UC Irvine  
Thursday, Apr. 9 | 6:00 PM PT | Bren Events Center
Stats   Watch   

No. 6 UC Irvine at No. 18 CSUN  
Saturday, Apr. 11 | 6:00 PM PT | Premier America Credit Union
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FIRST SERVE
No. 6 UC Irvine takes on No. 18 CSUN Thursday (Apr. 9) at 6:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center before heading to Northridge Saturday (Apr. 11) for a 6:00 p.m. match at the Premier America Credit Union Arena.

STORYLINES
UC Irvine is 15-5 overall and 3-3 in the Big West, dropping back-to-back matches for the first time last week.

UCI lost in five on Friday and in three on Saturday against No. 2 Hawaii.

In the second match, the Anteaters lost the first two sets, committing just three attack errors and ended with nine for the match the second fewest of the year. UCI would record 18 service errors on the evening and watch Hawaii hit .466, a season-high for an opponent against UCI.

Freshman Andrej Jokanovic led UCI in kills in the first meeting with 22, while senior William D'Arcy led on the second night with 13 kills.

Last Saturday, the fourth largest crowd in program history (3,067) watched UC Irvine battle the Rainbow Warriors. UCI is fourth in the country in average attendance at 1,969 per match.

Nationally, the Anteaters rank 11th in kills (12.40), 12^th in hitting percentage (.310), 14^th in assists (11.57) and 15^th in aces (1.55). CSUN is ninth in kills (12.58) and hitting percentage (.329) and 11th in assists (11.71).

This week's matches feature two of the 15 players on the AVCA Player of the Year Watch List. UCI's Andrej Jokanovic joined CSUN's Jalen Phillips on the list.

UC Irvine has played in eight five-set matches in 2026, going  4-4, suffering four of their five season losses (No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Hawaii, No. 5 USC, No. 8 UCSB) in five.

The Anteaters are 5-4 at home and 10-1 away from the Bren Center.

FAB FRESHMAN
Freshman Andrej Jokanovic was named Big West Freshman of the Week for the sixth time this season. The outside hitter, who averaged 3.88 kills, 5.25 points, 1.25 digs and 1.00 aces over two matches against No. 2 Hawaii last week, surpassed Hilir Henno who held the previous UCI high of five recognitions in 2022.

The freshman put away a match-high 22 kills in the first match, one shy of his career-high, while hitting .314 and recording eight digs, four block assists and two aces. In the second meeting, he totaled nine digs and a career-high six aces which are tied for fifth most by a Big West player this season. He also had two block assists and two digs.

Jokanovic currently rates in the top five in The Big West as the highest-ranking frosh in the conference in kills (3.52), points (4.20) and aces (.415) per set with a .310 hitting percentage, good for sixth in the league. 

MATADOR LOWDOWN
CSUN is 12-10 overall and looking for its first Big West win of the season (0-5).

The Matadors have lost four in a row, dropping two matches against UC Santa Barbara without the services of All-American Jalen Phillips.

Phillips ranks seventh in the country in kills (3.93) and 10 in points (4.50).

CSUN is also looking for their first road victory (0-6).

UC Irvine has won the last four meetings, including two regular season contests and the first round of the Big West Championship last year.

The Anteaters have beaten the Matadors 3-2 in each of the last two outings.

MR. CONSISTENT
Senior William D'Arcy is averaging 3.15 kills, which is eighth best in the Big West. He is 13th in hitting percentage with a .298 mark.

He has recorded kills in double-figures in each of the last 16 matches, including a career-high 22 at BYU.

The opposite has 19 service aces and 50 total blocks.

IN THE MIDDLE
Middle blockers Trevor Clark and Micah Goss have been a force at the net. Clark leads the Big West in hitting percentage with a .501 mark. He is averaging 1.97 kills and 1.01 blocks per set, which is fifth best in the Big West.

Goss is averaging 1.68 kills and 0.64 blocks per set. The sophomore is recorded 12 kills and season-high six total blocks in the first meeting with Hawaii.

THE QUARTERBACK
Cameron Kosty runs the Anteater offense with a 8.27 set assists average, good for is sixth in the Big West.

The redshirt freshman totaled a career-high 54 set assists in the first match with Hawaii, the third most in a match by a Big West player this season.

He has 15 aces and 46 kills on the year.  The setter has recorded at least one block assist in every match but two matches.

POPPING THEM UP
Shane Aitken and Andon Kiriakou lead the Anteaters from the backline. Aitken is second the Big West in digs per set with a 2.01 mark. The recorded a career-high 15 digs in the first meeting versus UC Santa Barbara.

Kiriakou is third in the Big West with a 1.71 dig average, posting double-figure digs four times this season. The outside hitter is averaging 1.37 kills, recording a season-high 10 kills versus Stanford.

UP NEXT
UCI entertains Long Beach State in the final regular season match Apr. 18 at the Bren Events Center. First serve is 6:00 p.m. UCI will celebrate graduating seniors William D'Arcy, Aidan Schulten and Beck Weber after the match.

HOSTING BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Bren Events Center will host The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship April 23-25, 2026.