UC Irvine Hangs Tough In 3-1 Loss To UC Santa Barbara
November 30, 2013 | Women's Volleyball
Irvine, Calif. -- UC Irvine fell in four sets to UC Santa Barbara by scores of 26-24, 22-25, 29-27, 25-12 on Saturday night in the Bren Center.
As a team, UCI hit .153 while UCSB swung at a .209 clip. The Gauchos won the battle of the block, 13.0-9.0.
UC Irvine started out strong in set one, and took a 15-11 lead on a kill from Bubica that prompted a UCSB timeout. But a combination of UCI attack errors and solid UCSB blocking allowed the Gauchos inch within 15-14, and eventually take a 17-16 lead on a kill from Spindt. A 12-4 run from UCSB stretched the lead to 23-19. However, the Anteaters fought back to tie the score at 24-24 thanks to a pair of putaways from Bubica and another from Shelley Anderson. The Gauchos secured the 26-24 set one win as Ali Barbeau posted a kill and a service ace.
Set two was also a tight affair as neither team led by more than three points and it featured 11 ties. UCI utilized a Cassidy Pickrell kill to take a 21-18 lead, but UCSB rallied with three of the next four points, forcing Squires into an attack error and narrowing the deficit to 22-21. With the 'Eaters still leading 23-22, they thwarted any threat of a comeback as a service error from Spindt and a kill from Shannon Fleming put the finishing touches on a 25-22 UCI victory.
The Gauchos pulled out a 29-27 win in set three in another back-and-forth exchange that went down to the wire. UCI led 17-15 at one point thanks to an Allison Lee service ace, but the Gauchos roared back with three straight points to take the lead. Pickrell slammed a cross-court kill to knot things at 19-19, but UCSB reeled off another three-point run with Spindt and Grundt combining for the block and a 22-19 edge. UCI utilized kills from Pickrell and Manz, followed by a block from Manz and Squires to tie the set again at 22-22. The two teams traded points, and with the set tied at 27-27, UCSB pulled out the final two points for the win. Jaylen Villanueva slammed one down the line, and Spindt and Grunt roofed a UCI attack to finish off the set.
UCSB controlled the action from the outset in the fourth set to take the frame, 25-12. The Gauchos hit .423 and went on a 14-5 run to turn a 4-4 tie into an 18-9 advantage. UCSB scored five of the last six points on a pair of Spindt kills, two UCI attack errors and a service error.
__________________________________________________________
For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu. For more information click here.
For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu. For additional information, click here.
