UC Irvine Falls In Four To No. 6 Hawai'i
October 05, 2013 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. --- A trio of Anteaters each totaled 11 kills apiece but UC Irvine was unable to handle sixth-ranked Hawai'i, losing 3-1 (25-16, 25-17, 22-25, 25-15) Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd of 814 at Crawford Court.
Cassidy Pickrell, Aly Squires and Arielle Manz, who posted a season-high, led UCI in kills and Manz tied for the three-high with three block assists. Pickrell fired a match-leading three aces to lead the Anteaters to a 7-2 advantage in service winners, while Molly Yoder topped the team with nine digs. Shelley Anderson totaled 31 assists and four kills in the effort.
Hawai'i scored three straight to take an 11-7 lead in the first and forced a UC Irvine timeout but Manz came out of the huddle with a kill down the middle to halt the 'Bows' rally. Squires nailed a cross-court shot to trim the lead to three (11-8). A miscommunication by the Anteaters would extend the UH lead to five at 21-16 as UCI used its second timeout. The pressure from Hawai'i didn't let up as the Rainbow Wahine recorded the final four points to take the first set.
UCI fell behind 4-1 in the second and used an early timeout to regroup. The Anteaters chipped away and cut the lead to one at 6-5 as Fleming and Anderson denied Emily Hartong at the net. A tough serve by Fleming put UH off balance and Squires followed by tooling off the block to tie the set at 7-7. UCI was unable to get past the 'Bows' block as UH stopped the Anteaters on consecutive plays to take a comfortable 18-11 lead. UCI inserted Ella Rosenfeld into the lineup, who aced Ali Longo twice to trim the lead to 21-15. However, UH could not be held off and would take a two-set lead on a kill by Hartong.
Pickrell sparked UCI in the third, opening the set with back-to-back aces. Anderson found Squires for a kill and UH would take its first timeout of the match, trailing 3-0. Pickrell continued with the pressure and fired her third ace of the set and Anderson knocked the ball down on the assist from Yoder to give UCI a 5-1 advantage. Anderson delivered again with a shot to the deep corner as UCI extended the lead to six at 7-1. The 'Bows rallied to cut the lead to three at 10-7 but Pickrell poked the ball through the Hawai'i block to widen UCI's margin to five at 13-8. A 5-1 run by UH would close the deficit to one (14-13) following a kill down the middle by Hartong and a solo block by Kristiana Tuaniga. The 'Bows would catch the Anteaters at 15-15 as Kalei Adolpho and Ashley Kastl sent back an attempt by Squires and took a one-point lead on the put-away from Hartong. The two teams traded points and at 20-20, UCI scored four unanswered points to take a 24-20 lead on a consecutive attack errors by UH. Squires would bury a shot down the line as UCI avoided the sweep.
The Anteaters trailed again 4-1 in the fourth but battled to shave the lead to one at 6-5. The Rainbow Wahine responded with a 4-0 run to claim a four-point lead at 9-5. Bubica and Manz paired up to stuff Manu-Olevao at the net on the following play, but the 'Bows continued to push ahead, taking a six-point advantage (14-8). Adolpho slapped an assist from Mita Uiato down the middle as UH climbed to a 20-13 lead. That would be all as Hawai'i recorded match point on a kill from Adolpho and sealed the win on the block from Nikki Taylor and Jane Vorster.
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