Box Score IRVINE, Calif. --- The duo of Cassidy Pickrell and Allison Lee combined for 36 kills to lead UC Irvine to a 25-10, 22-25, 25-13, 28-26 win over Army Sunday at Crawford Court.
Four Anteater players reached double-figure kills with Victoria Dennis posting a career-high 13 kills and Ella Rosenfeld chipping in 10. Arden Davis led UCI a to a 65-43 win in the dig category with a team-high 20 scoops and Anderson totaled 58 assists and 10 digs.
The Anteaters (4-3) sped out to an early 12-3 lead in the first set against the Black Knights, capitalizing on a negative .074 hitting percentage by Army. Anderson went to Pickrell and Dennis to pace the team to a .321 clip in the frame and it was Dennis with the winning point, hitting a cross-court shot.
Army bounced back in the second, keeping pace with the Anteaters early in the frame but an unforced error by Olivia Fairfield and two blocks by Ella Rosenfeld would lead to a four-point UCI lead at 10-6. The Black Knights charged back and closed the gap to one at 11-10 on a kill by Alexandra Bell and then took a 15-14 lead on a UCI attack error. Shannel Chong aced Molly Yoder to stretch the lead to four but UCI would close the gap to one at 23-22 after winning a furious rally that ended with a ball from Army that sailed long. Vanessa Edwards went to Bockrath for the kill out of the Army timeout and Dennis' attempt on the following play flew long to end the frame.
It was all UCI in the third as the Anteaters built a commanding 11-4 lead. UCI rode a .571 hitting percentage, committing just two errors in the set. Army never threatened and the Anteaters took control of the match with a 2-1 set lead on a Dennis kill that was powered through the Army block.
The Anteaters established a 9-5 advantage in the fourth and Anderson dished to the usual suspects in Geiger, Pickrell and Lee as the trio extended the margin to seven at 16-9. The Black Knights rallied and chipped at the lead, using a 4-1 run, capped by an ace from Edwards to shrink the lead to three at 19-16. The Anteaters went to a timeout in an attempt to hold back Army but the Black Knights kept the momentum going as Nicole Perri hit a cross-court kill to bring the team to within two at 19-17. Anderson went to Pickrell, who tooled the ball off the block to briefly halt Army's run but Army was not finished, using a kill from Bockrath and an ace from Kristen Smeland to tie the score at 22-22. UCI used its final timeout and Bockrath delivered again with a kill to grab a 23-22 edge. The two teams traded points until UCI handled a soft roller from Perri and turned it into a kill from Pickrell to reclaim the lead at 27-26. A back-row shot from Amber Clay on match point would drift long on the following play as UCI closed out the match.
