For the second consecutive Saturday and third time during this month-long homestand, the Warriors blew a two-game lead, this time imploding against 10th-ranked UC Irvine, 18-30, 23-30, 30-27, 30-26, 15-13.

Of the Warriors' sixth loss in nine five-game matches this season, UH setter Kimo Tuyay said, "It's getting really annoying. But what can you say? We lost. ... We can't seem to find a way to put it together the whole match. When that happens, we're just going downhill. We should have won this game, but you know, shoulda, coulda, woulda ..."

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,695 watched the Warriors unravel because of opposite hitter Jimmy Pelzel's powerful swings, an improved Anteater block and bachi. With UH down 21-20 in Game 3, the public address announcer repeatedly asked the parents of the five Warrior seniors — Tuyay, Joshua Stanhiser, Ryan Woodward, Arri Jeschke and Jake Muise — to report to court level for the post-match ceremony.

The Warriors were in control early, with Tuyay wisely selecting from an offensive menu of Matt Bender on the right side, Stanhiser or Mauli'a LaBarre in the middle, and Pedro Azenha from every which point.

Tuyay's relatives also provided an emotional boost. His uncles, Rick Ranches and Felix Tuyay, served as honorary Warrior mascots, complete with green body paint, and his father, Jim, distributed 500 ThunderStix-like noisemakers that he dubbed "Kimo Stix."

But the festivities quelled in Game 3, when Pelzel found his groove and the Anteaters established their block. Pelzel, who entered the series fifth nationally in kills and averaging nearly 10 swings a game, did not start in Friday night's match between the teams. Last night, Pelzel, the program's first All-American, hammered 20 kills, hitting .424, as well as two aces, four digs and seven of the Anteaters' 15 blocks.

"Everyone started playing their butts off," Pelzel said. "It was a complete team effort. It was awesome. We started blocking. That's one of our team's biggest strengths. We actually capitalized on it."

In Game 3, the Anteaters, deciphering the Warriors' attack patterns, usually had two blockers ready on Tuyay's sets to the outside. Tuyay tried to distribute the offense, looking to Azenha on pipe sets to the middle of the back row. Of Azenha's 23 kills, eight came off pipe sets.

"I thought we were running out of gas in Game 3, and I had to make some changes," UH coach Mike Wilton said.

Wilton benched opposite hitter Bender for the fourth game. Delano Thomas moved into the rotation at left-side hitter, and Azenha, move from the left to play opposite hitter. By the middle of the fourth game, Jeschke replaced Woodward at outside hitter/primary passer and, later, Woodward replaced Jeschke.

"If we were running out of gas in Game 3, the wheels came off in Game 4," said Wilton.

In the first-to-15 fifth game, there were six ties — the last at 12, when Azenha parlayed a pipe set into a sizzling shot off a double block. But then Azenha served into the net, and Irvine's Spencer Bemus slammed a UH overpass off the hands of Tuyay for a 14-12 lead.

Pelzel's service error helped cut the Anteaters' lead to 14-13, but Jayson Jablonsky finished off the match with an angle shot off a double block.

Bender said: "It's really frustrating. We lost our rhythm the last few games. We had it going for the fifth game and then things started going out of whack. It would have been nice to pull it out for the seniors. I feel we let them down, and that's super frustrating."

The Warriors severely diminished their chances of hosting an opening-round match in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs. The Warriors, who fell to 16-10 and 12-8 in the MPSF, entered in a three-way tie for fourth place. Only the top four teams host first-round matches. The Warriors are now in sixth place, with two road matches against Pepperdine remaining in the season.

The Anteaters improved to 12-17 and 6-14.