No. 5/3 UC Irvine avenged its loss.
UC Irvine toppled No. 4/5 USC 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23 at the Galen Center on Friday night, splitting a season-series that saw both teams lose their undefeated records in the process.
While the Trojans (8-1) proved superior offensively (hitting .417 to .344) and defensively (out-digging UCI 44-28), the Anteaters (12-1) made up the difference with their serving, converting seven aces with 12 services errors while USC logged a ratio of two aces on 17 errors. The two teams were closely matched in blocks, with UCI holding a narrow lead at 8.5-7.5.
Senior opposite William D’arcy led the ‘Eaters with 21 kills and added two aces, three block-assists and six digs. Freshman outside hitter Andrej Jokanovic logged 15 kills, three block-assists, five digs, and a match-high three service aces. Junior opposite Andon Kiriakou added eight kills on an efficient .467 hitting percentage for the ‘Eaters, while sophomore middle blocker Lukas Winn led all players with five block-assists.
Senior outside hitter Dillon Klein hit a match-high 23 kills at a .487 clip, while sophomore outside Sterling Foley and sophomore middle Tyler Robinson added 10 kills apiece.
Jokanovic seemingly broke open the first set for the ‘Eaters with a 7-0 run that included two aces to put UCI up 20-11, but the Trojans responded in kind with their own 7-0 run that also featured two aces from Foley. After a kill by D’arcy gave UCI some breathing space at 21-18, the ‘Eaters went on to close out the first set 25-20.
USC trailed early at 5-2 in the second set, but retook the lead on a 5-0 run that featured multiple blocks from Noah Roberts at 7-5. UCI kept the deficit at two before they took the lead for good on a 4-1 run to go up 16-15 and eventually 24-21. The Trojans fended off two-set points before conceding the set off a service error.
Although UCI hit for .448 on 13 kills on 29 swings and zero errors, USC managed to one-up the visitors in the third set, hitting a scorching .594 (21-2-32). Neither team led by more than one point until the Trojans pounded-away four kills in a 4-1 run to go up 18-15. The ‘Eaters battled-back to close the gap at 23-23, but the Trojans scored on back-to-back kills to force a fourth-set.
The Trojans jumped to an early 4-1 lead and held on that led through the majority of the fourth stanza. At 15-17, the ‘Eaters mounted a 4-1 run that saw two Kiriakou kills and an ace from D’arcy to take the lead at 19-18. From there, the two teams traded points with neither able to string together two consecutive points until Kiriakou bucked that trend at 24-23 with a kill to clinch the match.
UCI and USC will be out of action for at least two weeks, with No. 1/1 UCLA scheduled to welcome both teams back from their hiatus. The ‘Eaters host the Bruins on Feb. 27 at Bren Events Center, while the Trojans see their cross-town rivals at the Galen Center on March 3.
This article was provided to Off the Block courtesy of reporter Brendan Yu.