Anteaters Sweep Highlanders
October 10, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. --- Harlee Kekauoha and Victoria Dennis combined for 25 kills to lead UC Irvine to a 25-20, 25-22, 25-21 sweep of UC Riverside on Think Pink night Saturday at Crawford Court.
The Anteaters used a .342 team hitting percentage to handle the Highlanders and improve to 8-10 on the year and 2-4 in the Big West. Kekauoha hit .423 while Dennis had just one error in 29 attempts for a .345 clip. Marisa Bubica added eight kills while Ella Rosenfeld went errorless on offense, putting away six of 14 attempts for a team-best .429 percentage. Shelley Anderson dished out 38 assists and Luna Tsujimoto topped the team with 12 digs. Chloe Hakim came up with several key scoops to finish with 10 on the night to go along with two service aces.
UCI opened the first set with a 4-0 run, capped by a solo stuff by Kekauoha. However, the Highlanders surged back into the set with a 4-1 run of their own to close the gap to one at 5-4. Anderson dropped in a southpaw shot on the assist from Tsujimoto as the Anteaters reclaimed an 8-4 advantage and Dennis used the UCR block to her advantage to force a Highlander timeout at 9-4. The lead stretched to eight at 15-7 on a kill from Kekauoha but UC Riverside battled to slash the deficit to three at 19-16 as Meg Graham beat Rosenfeld at the net with a kill. Rosenfeld answered back on the next play, tooling the ball off the block (20-16) and UCI would reach set point (24-19) on an attack error by Fabiana Rosas. Kekauoha handled the final point, slamming down a ball out of the reach of a diving Highlander defense.
It was a reversal of fortune in the second as UCR stormed out to a 5-1 lead and the Anteaters quickly used a timeout. The Highlanders maintained a four-point lead until an ace by Gresham opened it to five (10-5). UCR opened the door for the Anteaters as Alexis Urbach committed a pair of attack errors and Meg Graham's attempt went into the net (10-8). UCI walked through the door behind Rosenfeld, who tooled the ball off the block on back-to-back plays and Urbach followed with a third error to knot the score at 11-11. UCI took its first lead of the frame at 12-11 as Rosenfeld and Anderson sent back an attempt by Cristina Maietta. The Anteaters worked the lead to three at 16-13 on two more unforced errors by UCR and would go on to capture a 2-0 lead after a series of scrappy plays by UCI, ending with a kill from Kekauoha.
The Anteaters stayed consistent on the offensive end, attacking third set with a .342 hitting percentage and establishing a 12-7 lead on a block by Idara Akpakpa and Marisa Bubica. The lead was trimmed to four at 16-12 on a kill from Rosas and then two at 18-16 after Rosas came through again for the Highlanders. The Anteaters continued to use the Riverside block as Bubica slammed the ball off the Highlanders' hands on consecutive plays to give the team a 23-19 advantage. UCI won a crucial point after an extended rally that ended with an attack error from Rosas, giving the Anteaters set point at 24-20. After a roll shot from Rosas to keep the Highlanders in the match, Maddie Hubbell committed a service error and sent the ball long to end the match.
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