Anteaters Unable To Handle Long Beach State
November 23, 2013 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine was swept by Long Beach State for the second time this season, losing 25-21, 25-18, 25-23 Saturday night at Crawford Court.
UCI, held to a .152 hitting percentage, was led by Aly Squires, who recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs to go along with three block assists and an ace. Shannon Fleming chipped in nine kills while Shelley Anderson knocked down four kills while dishing out 31 assists. Arden Davis topped all players with 13 digs while Allison Lee hit .556, converting on six of nine attempts with just one error.
Despite a .323 hitting percentage by the 49ers in the first set, UCI jumped out to a 7-3 lead on a kill from Shannon Fleming that forced LBSU to use a timeout. The 49ers responded by chipping at the lead and closed the gap to one at 11-10 on back-to-back kills from Bre Mackie. With the Anteaters holding onto a 13-12 lead, the 49ers found Delainey Aigner-Swesey on consecutive plays and Chisom Okpala buried an over-pass to take a 15-13 edge. Arielle Manz and Squires blocked Alex Reid to bring UCI to within one at 19-18, but LBSU reeled off four unanswered points to lead 22-18 and took the first frame on the block on Fleming.
Long Beach State used its blocking game in the second set as Erin Juley and Haleigh Hampton stopped Cassidy Pickrell at the net and Tyler Jackson followed with an ace to claim a 10-8 lead. A three-point LBSU rally forced UCI to use a timeout trailing 15-10 and the lead opened to seven at 19-12 on the block by Okpala and Aigner-Swesey. At 22-13, the Anteaters went on a 4-0 run to trim the deficit to 22-17 but an attempt by Marisa Bubica fell long to end the set.
The Anteaters were the first to pull away in the third, scoring three straight to lead 13-10 on an unforced error by Aigner-Swesey. However, UCI was unable to hold off the 49ers as Aigner-Swesey put up a solo block and then knocked down an assist from Juley to trim UCI's lead to one at 14-13. Consecutive unforced UCI errors gave LBSU an 18-15 advantage but Squires and Lee delivered with a pair of kills to knot the score at 20 points apiece. That would be all for the Anteaters as a service error sparked a three-point run for the 49ers and Long Beach State would seal the win on a kill from Aigner-Swesey.
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