IRVINE, Calif. --- Aly Squires led all players with 17 kills to lead UC Irvine to its first home win of the season with a 25-18, 25-17, 16-25, 25-11 win over Colgate Saturday morning at the Bren Events Center.
Squires committed just one error in 35 tries, hitting .457 while freshman Sydney Wright had her best game the young season, hitting .636 and converting on eight of 11 attempts with one miscue. Arielle Manz also chipped in eight kills and led the Anteater block with three block assists. Kristin Winkler picked up 15 digs while Marissa Alvarez posted 34 assists and eight digs.
The Anteaters held an 8-7 lead in the first set but Taylor Smith delivered on the cross-court kill and Manz and Squires blocked Karnes, extending the margin to four at 11-7. UCI led by as many as six at 13-7 but Colgate cut the lead to four at 20-16 on the put-away by Lindsay Young. At 21-16, Alvarez's serve fell for an ace and Squires delivered with the solo block on Katie Fauntleroy to give UCI set point. Smith's deep shot to the corner was too much for Colgate to handle as UCI took a 1-0 lead. Squires was errorless in 12 attempts and had five kills to hit. 417 to go along with three blocks and a pair of digs.
UCI jumped out again in the second set, taking an 8-4 advantage on the baseline winner from Shannon Fleming. Bubica followed with a cross-court shot, prompting Colgate to take a timeout, trailing at 10-5. Bubica continued to deliver out of the timeout with a shot down the line and Alvarez connected with Manz for the kill down the middle as UCI took its largest lead at 12-5. The Anteaters matched that lead on a cut shot by Squires at 16-9 but Colgate trimmed the deficit to three at 20-17 as Young hit a swipe shot into the corner. UCI responded by scoring the final four points to take a two-set lead.
In the third set Colgate's defense helped Raiders to build its largest lead of the match at 11-4 on back-to-back blocks by the duo of Young and Kaylee Fifer. UCI closed the gap to five at 15-10 on an unforced error but Colgate regrouped and held off Anteaters. The Raiders' Michelle McCarthy hit a line shot sfor the 25-16 win.
UCI sped out to a 7-2 lead in the fourth frame, forcing Colgate to take its first timeout and never looked back. Wright shot the ball out to Bubica for the kill and Alvarez posted her second ace to give UCI an insurmountable 15-6 lead. Ella Rosenfeld took care of the kill on an overpass as UCI led 20-10 and the Anteaters out-scored Colgate 5-1, capping the match on a block by Alvarez and Rosenfeld.
UCI (2-4) hosts No. 1 Nebraska tonight at 8:00 p.m. to cap this weekend's tournament action.
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