UC Irvine
UC Santa Barbara
Anteaters Beat Mustangs For First Big West Win
October 07, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine collected its first conference win of the season after sweeping Cal Poly 28-26, 25-22, 25-21 Friday at the Bren Events Center.
Aly Squires led the Anteaters (6-2, 1-3 Big West), who snapped a five-match losing streak, with 12 kills to go along with 10 digs. Shaina Olsen added 11 kills and two aces while Alexandra Hauser topped all players with three aces and six block assists to lead UCI to an 8-7 block advantage. Kristin Winkler tied for the match-high with 16 digs while Mary Carls and Marissa Alvarez had 18 and 14 assists, respectively.
Cal Poly opened the match with an 8-3 lead on a kill by Jennifer Keddy but the Anteaters mounted a five-point run to tie the score at 8-8 as Alvarez put the ball away. The Mustangs' Molly Pon spurred the team to a three-point edge with a pair of kills and Cal Poly would maintain a slim lead, eventually prompting a UCI timeout at 20-18. Olsen answered for UCI with a cross-court kill to tie the set at 23 points apiece and the Anteaters took its first lead of the match as Pauline Acres' ace split a pair of Mustang players. At 26-26, Smith delivered a kill on the overpass and Winkler followed with a serve that was too hot to handle, giving the Anteaters the win in the first frame.
The Mustangs again took an early lead at 7-4 in the second set but the Anteaters quickly knotted the score as Hauser teamed up first with Smith and then with Squires to block Cal Poly on back-to-back plays. Following consecutive attacking errors by the Mustangs, Smith and Squires each knocked the ball down to extend UCI's lead to four at 12-8. Leading 15-12, UCI scored four consecutive points to enjoy its largest lead at 19-12. Cal Poly rallied to shrink the margin to two at 22-20 as Kate Walters found Keddy. However, Squires' cross-court kill would halt the Mustang run and Alvarez dealt the ball to Squires again for the game-winning point.
The Anteaters stormed out to a 7-1 lead in the final frame but the Mustangs answered by scoring four straight points to close the gap to two at 7-5. Leading 13-10, the Anteaters were unable to hold off Cal Poly which used a second four-point run to take a 15-13 lead on a roll shot from Graven. UCI quickly bounced back and claimed a one-point edge (17-16) as Hauser aced the Mustangs on back-to-back serves. A pair of Cal Poly kills followed by a UCI attack error swung the set back in the Mustangs' favor briefly but the Anteaters clawed to take the lead at 21-20 following a kill and an ace from Olsen. Keddy delivered a back-row kill to tie the score at 21-21 but Squires fired away on three of the next four attempts to complete the sweep for the Anteaters.
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