UC Irvine
UC Santa Barbara
Fourth Set Proves Pivotal In 3-2 Loss To Cal Poly
November 29, 2013 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine served for six match points in the fourth set but was unable to come away with the win and Cal Poly capitalized, handing the Anteaters a 17-25, 20-25, 25-21, 26-24, 17-15 loss Friday at the Bren Events Center.
The Anteaters and Mustangs combined for 127 digs with UCI posting 106. Arden Davis and Shelley Anderson led the team with 19 digs apiece with Anderson registering a career-high. Molly Yoder added 15 digs. Aly Squires logged 14 digs and Cassidy Pickrell also had a personal-best with 10 digs. Pickrell paced the offense with 16 kills with Shannon Fleming and Marisa Bubica putting away 13 kills each. Arielle Manz had a season-best 12 kills to go along with five total blocks and eight digs, a personal-high for the middle blocker.
Cal Poly built leads of 4-1 and 8-5 in the first set but the Anteaters chipped at the lead both times and caught up to the Mustangs at 9-9 as Pickrell denied Hannah Schleis with a solo block. Manz was Anderson's favorite target in the frame as the middle blocker hit .600, connecting on six of 10 attempts. She gave UCI its first lead of the match with a kill on the slide, forcing Cal Poly to use its first timeout. The Anteater block followed on the ensuing play and Manz crushed an over pass to give the team a 12-9 advantage. UCI extended the lead to seven at 20-13 on a gutsy rally that led to a Bubica kill. A one-handed dig by Anderson led to a Pickrell kill for set point at 24-17 and Anderson then served a ball off the tape that fell untouched on the Mustang side to close out the set.
The second set saw both teams keep the score close in the early going. The Anteaters took a three point lead at 11-8 as Bubica aced Megan McConnell. Manz delivered the solo block on Taylor Guenewald to extend the lead to four at 14-10. Cal Poly rallied to shave the lead to one at 14-13 on a shot down the line from Gruenewald and Walters tied the set with an ace. The Mustangs grabbed the lead on the next play on a McConnell kill. The two teams traded points on a series of furious rallies until Pickrell sparked a three point run with a shot through the Mustang block to give UCI a 20-19 edge. It was Pickrell again with a kill and the freshman then paired up with Fleming to stop Schleis at the net for a three-point (22-19) lead. Schleis answered with a kill but McConnell was called for a blocking error and Anderson went to Pickrell on consecutive plays to give UCI a two-set lead.
The third set proved to be even tighter. Cal Poly managed to work a two-point lead early but a kill down the middle by Manz knotted the score at 10 points apiece. The Mustangs built the lead back up to two at 12-10 as Guenewald sent a kill past Anderson and then teamed up with Shannon Garrett to deny Aly Squires, widening the lead to three (13-10). UCI used a timeout to regroup but the Mustangs continued to apply the pressure as McConnell tooled the ball off the block on the following play (14-10). UCI came to within one at 17-16 on an ace by Allison Lee but the Mustangs responded by delivering back-to-back plays to reclaim a 19-16 advantage. Marianne Gera knocked a ball down the middle to stretch the lead to four (20-16) and Cal Poly would go on to win the third set on an attempt by Manz that fell wide.
Cal Poly jumped out to a 7-3 lead as an over pass from Davis was knocked down by McConnell. The Anteaters chipped at the lead to close the margin to one at 10-9 as Anderson dished out a quick set to Fleming for a kill. UCI was unable to catch the Mustangs however, as the middles went up to contest a tight Cal Poly pass, leaving the net wide open for McConnell, who slammed a cross-court kill (12-9). UCI continued to rally behind Manz, whose kill down the middle was followed by an unforced error by McConnell, tightening the set to 14-12. A diving lunge by Pickrell sent the ball over the net and led to an attack error by Cal Poly and Manz delivered a soft tip over the Mustang block as UCI tied the score at 14-14. UCI claimed an 18-16 lead on Bubica's solo block of Gera and saw the lead pushed to three (20-17) as Lexi Reddick's attempt rolled into the net. Fleming aced Steffi Sooter (23-19) and Anderson posted a kill on a broken play to give UCI match point at 24-20. However Cal Poly went on a 6-0 unanswered run and took the frame on a kill from Garrett, forcing a fifth set.
Cal Poly opened the final set with two points before Manz would hit a deep corner shot to put UCI on the board. The Mustangs led 5-3 but the Anteaters tied the set on a solo block from Squires and an attack error by Schleis. The two teams traded points until UCI forced the side change at 8-7 on another attack error by Cal Poly. However, the momentum swung back Cal Poly's way as UCI committed consecutive unforced errors to trail 11-9. The Mustangs could not hold off the Anteaters as Squires put away an assist from Davis and Manz countered an attempt by Garrett with a kill to the middle of the court that gave UCI a 14-13 edge. At 15-15, Garrett and Gruenewald connected for a kill and Gera tipped the ball over the UCI block to win the match.
UCI takes on UC Santa Barbara Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Center.
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