There was no slowing down William D’Arcy – especially in the big moments of marquee road non-conference match.
D’Arcy had a match-high 19 kills on a .630 attack percentage and spearheaded a comeback in the second game as No. 7/7 UC Irvine defeated No. 3/3 Pepperdine 25-23, 26-24, 22-25, 25-20 on Friday.
UC Irvine trailed 18-11 in the second game before D’Arcy had four kills and back-to-back aces as part of an 11-4 run to tie the game. D’Arcy also had the game-winning kill in overtime to pull off the comeback win.
Along with the second-game performance, D’Arcy with the opening game tied at 22-22 had three kills on the next four plays to close out the game. The pin-hitter added a game-high seven kills in the final game, including kills on three consecutive plays late in the game.
D’Arcy was one of two Anteaters with double-digit kills against the defending MPSF champions.
Outside attacker Andre Jokanovic finished with 17 kills on a .371 attack percentage highlighted with kills on four consecutive plays in the third game. Middle attacker Micah Goss also contributed eight kills and one error on a .500 attack percentage.
UC Irvine was able to remain undefeated so far this season despite being out-hit .406 to .376.
Outside attackers Ryan Barnett and Grant Lamoureux in the loss each hit .522 with Barnett having a team-high 15 kills and Lamoureux adding 14 kills. Opposite Cole Hartke had 13 kills along with four blocks.
Middle attacker Noe Matthey led all players defensively with five blocks. In addition, the Waves finished the match with eight blocks – six more blocks than the Anteaters.