Anteaters Give No. 8 Hawai'i A Battle, But Fall In Four
October 17, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
HONOLULU, Hawai'i --- UC Irvine (8-11, 2-5) kept pace with the top blocking team in the nation but fell, 25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 26-24 to eight-ranked Hawai'i Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Team blocks were 18-17 in favor of Hawai'i but UCI recorded 26 block assists, led by Idara Akpakpa, who tied a career-high with seven. Ella Rosenfeld added six block assists while Emily Blair had a career-high five to go along with 33 assists. UCI's back-row delivered as well with the Anteaters posting a 63-61 advantage with Chloe Hakim scooping up a personal-best 16 and Luna Tsujimoto posting an even dozen. Offensively, Marisa Bubica was the lone Anteater with double-figure kills with 14.
Despite hitting .026 for the frame, the Anteaters managed to stay within two points of the 'Bows in the first set until Hawai'i mounted an unanswered 6-0 run to build a 14-7 lead. Dennis slammed a shot down the line to halt the Rainbow rally and the Anteaters chipped at the deficit, bringing the margin to five at 15-10 with Akpakpa delivering on two plays. However, UCI saw UH's lead grow back to seven at 18-11 after Bubica was stopped by the Hawai'i block followed by a kill from Olivia Magill, forcing UCI to use its final timeout. The Anteaters worked themselves back into the match, trimming the lead down to three at 21-17 following a UCI block on Emily Maglio and an ace from Shelley Anderson. However, the 'Bows used a timeout and Anderson's next serve found the net. Tai Manu-Olevao, who led all players with 15 kills, followed with a cross-court winner and a solo block on Akpakpa to give UH set point. Anderson went to Kekauoha for a back-row attempt but the effort sailed out to end the set.
The Anteaters went to setter Emily Blair to start the second and UCI grabbed a 4-0 lead as Bubica found open real estate to cap the rally. Blair bumped the ball over for a kill (5-1) but a Hawai'i surge tied the score at 6-6 as a McKenna Granato kill was followed by back-to-back aces from Annie Mitchem. The rallies continued until the freshman tandem of Akpakpa and Harlee Kekauoha denied Manu-Olevao at the net and Dennis followed with a tip to give UCI a 10-8 edge. The Anteaters hit .273 while holding UH to a .186 clip but were unable to contain Magill, who keyed Hawai'i with consecutive kills down the middle and then paired up with Granato to stuff Kekauoha for the 21-18 lead. Rosenfeld was unable to knock down the ball on the slide and Granato capitalized by tooling the ball off the Anteater block. Bubica kept UCI to within two points at 22-20 with a solo block on Tayler Higgins and Dennis followed with a solo of her own on Manu-Olevao to bring UCI to within a point at 23-22. However, the 'Bows went to Granato for the kill and following a Rainbow service error, Maglio closed the frame with a shot down the middle.
UCI watched the Rainbows take an early 9-5 lead by scoring four straight points with Granato acing the Anteaters to cap the run However, UCI upped its blocking game, denying Hawai'i on four plays to close the gap to one at 12-11. The Anteaters' blocking schemes continued to be effective as Rosenfeld and Blair stopped Granato on two straight plays to give UCI a 15-14 edge. Manu-Olevao sent an attempt long (16-14) and UCI stretched the lead to three as Rosenfeld and Blair denied Manu-Olevao. However, UH stayed with Manu-Olevao, who delivered a pair of kills that cut the lead to one (18-17) but Blair crossed up the Hawai'i blockers for a kill. Bubica slammed a ball down the line for a 22-20 lead and Kekauoha came up with a timely service winner (23-21). Magill kept the 'Bows in the game but Bubica came through again with a shot down the line to give UCI set point. Blair found Dennis, who used the Hawai'i block to her advantage to win the set.
The Anteaters used the momentum from the win in the third to claim a 6-2 lead in the fourth. Hawai'i quickly answered to catch UCI at 7-7 but the Anteaters pulled ahead after sending back a Granato attempt and then stopping Casey Castillo for the 9-7 lead. The Anteaters were able to stay ahead of the 'Bows, who hit .176 for the set until at 16-14, Akpakpa committed an unforced error and Kendra Koelsch found Granato to tie the score (16-16). At 19-19, Maglio and Manu-Olevao forced the ball through the UCI block (21-19) but Bubica stepped up with Rosenfeld to stop a Mitchem attempt. Hakim read a UH roll shot and came up with a key dig to set up Bubica for a game-tying kill (22-22). After UCI grabbed a 24-23 lead on a UH error, Magill, hitting .308 for the match, pounded the ball down the middle of the Anteater defense (24-24). UCI was unable to convert on the next play and Granato followed with a line shot before Higgins went to the middle again, connecting with Maglio for the final point.
