UC Irvine
San Jose State
Anteaters Set Down San Jose State In Four
September 07, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
BOISE, Idaho. --- UC Irvine's offensive effort led the way to a 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 27-25) win over San Jose State this morning at the Boise State Invitational.
The Anteaters (3-5) and Spartans (3-4) were near even in digs (75-73) and blocks (8.0-7.0) with San Jose State holding the edge in both categories. However, UCI recorded a .256 hitting percentage while the Spartans managed just a .167 clip and UCI boasted a 9-4 advantage in service aces, led by Marissa Alvarez, who had a match-high three.
Aly Squires led a trio of Anteaters in double-figure kills with 21 and committed just three errors in 59 attempts to hit .305. Arielle Manz led all players with a .611 hitting percentage, converting on 12 of 18 attempts with one error to go along with a team-high three block assists. Marisa Bubica tacked on 13 kills while Kristin Winkler scooped up 23 digs to lead all players. Alvarez posted a season-best 50 assists with 16 digs in the win.
UCI stormed out to an 11-3 lead in the first frame with Molly Yoder capping the run with an ace, her fifth of the season and first of two for the match. The Anteaters never looked back and Krista Miller's serve missed the mark on set point to end the frame.
San Jose State took the early 6-2 edge in the second set but UCI, hitting .414 in the frame, would catch the Spartans at 11-11 on consecutive aces by Alvarez. The two teams traded points, but at 16-16 UCI scored four straight points, two on unforced errors by San Jose State. The lead extended to five at 23-18 on a kill from Manz and the Spartans ended the set again on a service error.
Manz looked to be unstoppable in the middle as Alvarez went to the middle blocker on three straight plays to give UCI an 11-7 advantage. SJSU trimmed the lead to two on a put-away from Mary Alice O'Reilly and then scored on four straight plays to claim a 21-18 lead. UCI rallied and closed the gap to a point at 23-22 and again at 24-23 on kills from Squires but Michaela Leonard found Krista Miller for the winning point.
The Anteaters built a 9-4 lead in the final set and were able to hold off the Spartans for most of the match. However with UCI leading 21-16, SJSU put together a four-point rally to come to within a point at 21-20 and then tied the match at 22 points apiece. The two teams battled to trade points and at 25-25 UCI put the match away with Alvarez connecting with Bubica and then Squires to seal the win.
UCI takes on Southern Utah later this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. (PT).
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