Irvine, Calif. – The Pacific men's volleyball team's momentum came to a stop in Irvine on Saturday, February 18 when the Tigers took on the No. 2 Anteaters. Pacific would battle all night, but fall to the second ranked team in the nation 3-0 (25-16, 25-17, 25-17). The loss dropped Pacific to 5-9 (3-6 MPSF) and improved UCI to 10-3 (6-3).

Leading Pacific for the evening was junior Taylor Hughes with eight kills, while hitting .182. Middle blocker Christian Ahlin added four kills to hit .429 for the Tigers.

The teams traded the first 10 points to knot the score at five early in the first set. However, UCI would go on a 6-2 run to grab control of the game and eventually go on to win 25-16. Senior Florian Gornik had a team-best two kills in the first frame for the Orange and Black. Junior setter Patrick Tunnell added five assists to open the game.

The second set was much like the opener as the teams traded points before UCI took control. The Anteaters would go on to take the frame 25-17. Leading the Tigers in the second set was Hughes with four kills. Gornik added another pair of kills in the set, while Tunnell collected another 10 assists in the game.

Pacific fell behind early in the final frame 9-3, and could not rally to extend the match. The Tigers would fall 25-17 despite three kills from Hughes. Senior Sean Daley collected all three of his blocks in the final set.

The Tigers return home for the first time in three weeks for a pair of matches against USC and Pepperdine.