UC Irvine
UC Riverside
UC Irvine Takes Down Titans In Four
October 23, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
FULLERTON, Calif. --- Marisa Bubica had a stellar all-around performance to lead the Anteaters (9-11, 3-5) to a 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 21-25, 25-13) win Friday night over Cal State Fullerton (0-19, 0-7) at Titan Gym.
Bubica led all players with 13 kills and had a career-high four aces while leading the team with six total blocks. Harlee Kekauoha hit double-figures with 11 kills while adding in five blocks and two aces and Ella Rosenfeld added to UCI's 11-8 block advantage with four block assists to go along with seven kills. Luna Tsujimoto led UCI, tying a career-high 26 digs and Emily Blair handed out 30 assists for the team-high.
The Titans edged away early in the first after a line shot by Victoria Dennis went wide and Kekauoha was denied by Kyra Smith. CSF stretched the lead to four at 11-7 on an ace by Kyra Hill but Bubica hammered a ball to get the Anteaters back to a three-point margin. UCI then rallied to pull to within one after a roll-shot by Bubica dropped and the Titans followed the action with a bad set from Mackenzie Olsen (13-12). CSF pushed ahead again by four following an ace by Megann Delgado but Blair went to Idara Akpakpa for a kill on the quick and the setter then helped the cause with an ace to bring UCI back to within two at 18-16. UCI continued to battle and Bubica ended an extended rally by tooling the ball off the CSF block. Kekauoha followed with a solo stuff of Summer Kerins (21-20) and Blair went to Bubica again, who tied the score with a cross-court slam. Blair gave the team a 23-22 lead for good by crossing up the Titans with a kill. Delgado sent an attempt long on the next play and Kerins' attack on the slide went wide to end the set.
UCI used the block in the second to handcuff the Titans offensively and stormed out to an 8-3 lead, after the triple block of Kekauoha, Rosenfeld and Bubica stopped Hill. After an attack error by the Anteaters, Bubica and Rosenfeld denied Delgado again and sparked a 7-0 run as UCI built a 15-4 lead. The Titans went to Hill as CSF chipped to close the gap to seven at 17-10. Smith put the ball away on the slide and the margin was trimmed to four after Delgado sandwiched an attack error by Akpakpa with a pair of kills, one from the back-row and one that got past Dennis at the net. Sydney Wright entered and halted the Titan rally with a kill through the CSF block and Chloe Hakim aced Paige Reed (20-14). Hakim then picked up a roll-shot and Kekauoha capitalized with a cross-court slam (21-15). The Anteaters held off the Titans and Rosenfeld delivered on back-to-back attempts to give UCI a two-set lead.
The Anteaters kept the pressure on the Titans in the third, taking an 8-3 lead after consecutive service winners from Bubica. The deficit widened to six at 13-7 following a kill down the line from Kekauoha. However, the Titans began to chip at the lead. Kandace Thomas beat Rosenfeld in a one-on-one situation and Smith followed with a solo block (14-10). Smith figured again with the block assist first on Bubica and then with a solo stuff on Blair. The outside hitter then capped a rally with a kill on the slide to close the gap to one at 14-13 before Bubica hammered a ball cross-court into CSF territory (15-13). Bubica's tucked a serve inside the backline for an ace to give UCI a three-point lead at 16-13. However, the Anteaters were protect the three-point lead as the rallying Titans went on an eight-point run to turn a 21-17 deficit into a 25-21 win with Smith registering her second ace to end the set.
CSF claimed an early 6-4 edge in the final frame but UCI grabbed a 9-7 lead after the Titans were called for being out of rotation. Anderson, who came off the bench in the third set, fired an ace and a Titan service error led to a three-point UCI lead at 12-9. Thomas was called for a lift for a Titan error and the Anteater triple block stopped Delgado twice before Bubica denied Smith to push UCI ahead 16-10. CSF never threatened, committing four unforced errors in the final seven points and the Anteaters would roll to a 25-13 win.
