UCI men’s volleyball falls to Pepperdine

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Pepperdine def. UC Irvine

MALIBU — No. 11 Pepperdine rejected 16 blocks on its way to a 34-32, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19 upset over No. 4 UC Irvine at Firestone Fieldhouse Friday.

The Waves out-blocked the Anteaters 16-7 as UCI hit just .125 for the match (47-31-128). The Waves used defense at the net and 10 aces to offset a .162 hitting performance (44-25-117).

UCI’s offensive load was carried by All-American Tamir Hershko with 18 kills. The Anteaters tried several combinations of players, including the season debut of Thomas Hodges who collected seven kills in the final three sets. Middle blocker Andrew Benz was solid with six kills, hitting .455 and recording two blocks. Setter Michael Saeta had four kills, 35 set assists, five digs and two blocks. Libero David Parker had a team-high 10 digs.

Pepperdine was led by Colby Harriman with 16 kills and eight total blocks followed by Matt Tarantino with 11 kills. Tommy Carmody had a match-high 10 blocks, while Weston Barnes had a match-best 15 digs. Soren Dion-Kindem came in to set in relief of injured Joshua Stewart and totaled 35 set assists, six digs and three blocks.

The Anteaters fall to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while Pepperdine improves to 4-1 on the year and 2-1 in league action.

UCI plays at No. 8 Stanford Saturday at 7 p.m.