IRVINE, Calif. --- Marisa Bubica led all players with 17 kills and hit .353 for the Anteaters but it was not enough as UC Irvine fell 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 to Long Beach State Saturday at Crawford Court.
Taylor Smith also made the start for UCI (9-14, 4-5 Big West) and contributed 11 kills, committing just two errors to hit .310. Kristin Winkler picked up a match-high 26 digs while Shannon Fleming led the effort at the net with four block assists. Marissa Alvarez handed out 39 assists to go along with five digs and two block assists and Hannah Nabbout reached double-figure digs for the Anteaters with 12.
Long Beach State opened a 7-3 lead as Tiara Wallace bounced the ball off the Anteater block but Nabbout would come up with the one-handed dig, leading to the cross-court kill by Bubica and cutting UCI's deficit to one at 8-7. The see-saw battle continued as Long Beach State opened the margin back to five at 14-9 following the block by Tara Roenicke and Chisom Okpala. The Anteater block answered pulling UCI to within a point again at 16-15 as Alvarez and Fleming set down Wallace's attempt. UCI evened the score at 17-17 following a rotation error by the 49ers and took the first lead of the night at 18-17 after Bre Mackie's attempt failed to clear the net. UCI's lead stretched to two at 22-20 after Alex Reid's attempt fell short on the 49er side but Long Beach State pulled even again as Bubica's attempt was sent back by Roenicke and Okpala. Okpala handled the overpass by Molly Yoder to give LBSU set point and it was Okpala again on the slide to give the 49ers the frame.
The Anteaters built a three point lead at 11-8 on an off-speed kill by Fleming to force a 49er timeout in set No. 2. However, Long Beach State quickly caught UCI at 12-12 on the block by Wallace and Mackie. The two teams traded points until UCI claimed a two-point edge (17-15) as Ella Rosenfeld slammed down a pass by Chelsea Cabrajac. UCI extended the lead to three again at 21-18 again after Roenicke was unable to connect with Janisa Johnson on the outside. However, following a UCI service error, the Beach found Alex Reid on back-to-back plays to tie the score at 22-22. LBSU took set point on the attack error by the Anteaters and claimed a two-set lead following the back-row kill by Johnson.
UCI jumped out to a 6-2 lead to force Long Beach State's first timeout, but the Anteaters were unable to protect the advantage as the 49ers trimmed the margin to one at 8-7 on the block by Roenicke and Mackie. Fontanilla aced Nabbout on consecutive plays to put LBSU ahead 15-12 but UCI answered with a 5-1 run, capped by a kill from Arielle Manz to take over the lead at 17-16. Alvarez connected with Victoria Dennis for a kill and Dennis then knocked down the over-pass by Cabrajac to give UCI a three-point lead at 21-18. LBSU caught the Anteaters at 22-22 for the third time tonight and the two teams traded points until Johnson's cross-court kill was too hot to handle, giving the 49ers match point. Okpala then took advantage of a bad pass by the Anteaters to seal the win.
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