IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine had its four-match win streak halted after losing to Long Beach State, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24, 25-21 Friday night at Crawford  Court.

The Anteaters (10-5, 0-1) and the 49ers played an even match, tying in team blocks at 7-7 and digs at 83. UCI won the battle behind the service line 6-4 but the difference would come down to efficiency as the Anteaters were held to a .190 clip.

UCI started the match by taking a 7-5 lead on a solo stuff by Cassidy Pickrell and an ace by Arden Davis.  Chisolm Okpala hit the net on the next play to widen the gap to three at 8-5. The Beach chipped at the lead and tied the score on a centerline violation by UCI and claimed the 13-12 edge on consecutive blocks. Allison Lee put away a cross-court kill to halt the 49er rally, knotting the score at 13 points apiece. A blocking error on Sophie Bukovec gave UCI the advantage at 16-15 but the Beach bounced back and grabbed the lead for good at 19-18 on a ball-handling error by the Anteaters. UCI came to within three at 24-21 on an ace by Arielle Manz but Bre Mackie hit the cross- court winner to take the frame.

UCI rebounded by hitting .295 in the second. Lee and Manz paired up to stop Bukovec's back-row attempt and Manz crushed a kill down the middle on the next play to put UCI ahead 11-9. The Beach was on the verge of tying the match after a long rally but Pickrell, who led all players with 20 kills,  bumped over an attempt that rode the tape and dropped in to keep the margin at two (13-11). That lead, however, proved to be short-lived as UCI was called for being out of rotation and an attempt by Marisa Bubica went long as LBSU took a 14-13 edge. The Beach built a three-point advantage on the block by Jenelle Hudson and Ashley Murray but UCI struck back to trim the gap to one on a kill by Lee (19-18). Pickrell got a soft-roller to drop to catch LBSU at 20-20 and UCI then claimed the 22-21 lead after winning a long rally. The two teams would trade points until Bubica delivered by floating a shot into the middle of the court to put UCI at set point. Anderson stayed with the hot hand and found Bubica again, who powered the ball off the 49er hands to tie the match.

The Anteaters took the first lead of the set in the third at 9-7 on a kill from Lee but was unable to hold on as a bad set by Anderson tied the frame at 10-10. The two teams battled and Long Beach State out-scored UCI 4-1 to grab a 20-16 lead on a net violation. The 49rs returned the favor with a net call as the Anteaters came to within two at 22-20 but consecutive unforced errors put the Beach ahead at 24-20. A diving dig by Davis led to a kill by Pickrell as UCI crept back into the set (24-22) and the sophomore delivered again, tooling the ball off the Long Beach block to force a 49er timeout at 24-23. Manz provided the defense on the next play with the dig on the attempt by Mackie and Anderson went to Pickrell for the tying kill. However, the rally would fall short as UCI was unable to contain Mackie on the next play and Pickrell's attempt on set point would not clear the tape, falling on the UCI side.