Bubica, Latour Lead UC Irvine To Sweep Of Highlanders
October 24, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- UC Irvine improved to 10-11 overall and 4-5 in the Big West after recording its second win in as many nights with a 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 sweep of UC Riverside Saturday at the SRC Arena.
Marisa Bubica and Lena Latour led the way with nine kills apiece, a personal-best for Latour. Idara Akpakpa put away eight kills and led the team with a .500 hitting percentage as the middle blocker committed just two errors in 12 attempts. Ella Rosenfeld had one miscue in 20 swings and registered seven kills for a .300 hitting percentage. Shelley Anderson had a match-high 39 assists and led UCI to a 9-0 advantage in blocks with a season-best six total stuffs.
UC Riverside (7-15, 2-7) pulled ahead 9-7 in the first following a pair of kills from Helena Peric and Cristina Maietta but after a bad set from Fabiana Rosas, Harlee Kekauoha delivered on consecutive plays to give the Anteaters a 10-9 lead. Anderson fired an ace and Peric's attempt flew long on the next play as UCI pushed ahead by three points. Anderson came out of the timeout with a service error and Riverside would tie the match at 14-14 after scoring three of the next four points. Meg Graham rolled a shot onto the Anteater side to give the Highlanders the lead at 15-14, prompting a UCI timeout. The two sides traded points but at 21-21, UCI grabbed a 23-21 lead as Akpakpa fired a kill down the middle and Bubica followed by blasting the ball through the UCR block. The Highlanders rode the arm of Alex Gresham but UCI countered with Kekauoha, who gave UCI set point at 24-22. Graham closed the gap to one with a kill down the middle but the Anteaters withstood three Highlander attempts, the last with Bubica picking up a one-armed dig before winning the set with a cross-court kill.
The Highlanders took an 8-4 lead in the second and a UCI timeout did not slow down Peric, who hit a cross-court winner out of the break to stretch the lead to five at 9-4. Maddie Hubbell stung the Riverside cause with a service error but Maietta and Doyle delivered as UCR led 11-5.UCI trimmed the gap to three at 14-11 after Bubica ended an extended rally with a kill and Anderson and Rosenfeld stopped a Rosas attempt to force a UCR timeout. Anderson continued to command the action at the net with a pair of blocks on Rosas and Rosenfeld then aced Maietta to bring UCI to within one at 15-14. Anderson paired up with Akpakpa for the second time to deliver the stop on Peric, tying the score. Anteater blocking came up huge as the tandem of Anderson and Akpakpa first denied Alexis Urbach and then connected on the next play as Akpakpa delivered a kill down the middle (18-15). Lena Latour was inserted and promptly added a kill before Maietta fired an attempt long as UCI took a 20-15 advantage. The Anteaters withstood a two-point spurt by the Highlanders and Anderson found Rosenfeld on the slide for the winning point.
It was the Highlanders again in the third to edge out 10-8 but UCI rallied to stay within striking distance. Trailing 16-15, Latour won a joust at the net and Akpakpa crushed the ball on a Highlander over-pass before UCR was called for a bad set, tying the score at 16 points apiece. Latour followed with a hard shot down the line (17-16) and after a service error by Rosenfeld, it was Latour again with the hot hand as the sophomore dialed in for two more kills to give the Anteaters a 19-17 lead. The trouble continued for UCR as Peric and Maietta both sent attempts long (21-17). Anderson dealt the ball first to Akpakpak and then Kekauoha (23-18) and it would be Akpakpa to complete the sweep with a hard kill on the quick set.
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