IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine freshman Andrej Jokanovic powered the sixth-ranked Anteaters to a 3-1 victory (25-17, 23-25, 27-25, 25-19) over No. 18 CSUN Thursday night at the Bren Events Center.

Jokanovic tied his career-high with 23 kills and set a new-high with 13 digs. The reigning Big West Freshman of the Week hit .463 (23-4-41) with four total blocks (1 solo) and an ace. The outside hitter posted his third career double-double.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Senior William D'Arcy put away 14 kills, hitting .400 (14-2-30). The opposite had two block assists and an ace in the win
>Middle blocker Micah Goss recorded a match-high and season-high tying five block assists to go with six kills and three digs
>Freshman Andreas Brinck was a spark off the bench with a career-best six kills, while adding three digs and a block assist
>Setter Cameron Kosty totaled 49 set assists, three kills, two digs and a solo block
>Middle Beck Weber also made an impact with two digs and block assist
>Andon Kiriakou added five kills, two aces, two digs and a block assist, while libero Shane Aitken had seven digs
>The Anteaters, who improve to 16-5 overall and 4-3 in teh Big West, out-hit (.387-.259), out-blocked (9-8), out-aced (5-3) the Matadors. CSUN held the 38-32 edge in digs
>CSUN (12-11, 0-7) was led by Jalen Phillips' 15 kills

FIRST SET
>A kill by Cameron Kosty gave UCI the first substantial lead, 10-7
>Andrej Jokanovic had a kill and an ace to increase the margin to 17-12
>Micah Goss had a block with Andon Kiriakou before he put away a kill to make it 22-14
>UCI closed out the set with kills by William D'Arcy and Jokanovic, 25-16
>The Anteaters out-hit the Matadors .407-.095

SECOND SET
>CSUN jumped out to the quick 3-1 lead before UCI used a Matador service error and consecutive kills by D'Arcy, Trevor Clark and finally Kiriakou off the block to move in front 5-4
>Three in a row by CSUN, the last an ace, gave the Matadors a 10-8 lead
>The lead was short lived as UCI scored the next six on the strength of two blocks and two Kiriakou aces, 14-10
>A D'Arcy kill put UCI up 20-17 before the Matadors had three kills to knot the score at 20 all
>The teams would trade points until CSUN put away three consecutive kills to win 25-23

THIRD SET
>CSUN's block came alive rejecting three balls in a five-point span, 10-7
>UCI responded with a 4-1 run, the last a kill by Andreas Brinck to tie the score at 11-11
>CSUN would take control again leading 15-12 at the media timeout
>The Matadors would lead 20-17 before a Brinck kill was followed by consecutive blocks, one by Beck Weber and D'Arcy and another by Brinck and Goss to tie the score at 20-20
>After UCI went up 23-22 on a Jokanovic kill, CSUN answered with two kills of their own for set point, 24-23. A Matador service error kept the set going
>Following a Matador kill, UCI ended the set on a pair of Jokanovic kills and a CSUN attack error, 27-25

FOURTH SET
>UCI took control early building an 11-4 lead on a Kosty solo block, D'Arcy ace and Jokanovic kill
>The Anteaters remained firmly in front the rest of the way, ending with a D'Arcy kill, 25-19
>Jokanovic hit .714 in the final frame (5-0-7) with three digs and a block 

NOTES
>It is the fourth time Jokanovic has had 20 or more kills
>D'Arcy extended his double-digit kill streak to 17

UP NEXT
The teams will meet again on Saturday (Apr. 11) in Northridge. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m.