Anteaters Tied Up By 'Bows In Sweep
November 17, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine was unable to handle seventh-ranked Hawai'I in a 26-24, 25-21, 25-14 loss Tuesday night at the Bren Events Center.
Harlee Kekauoha led the team with 11 kills but was limited to a .189 hitting percentage. Victoria Dennis posted a .429 clips, putting away eight of 14 attempts with two kills and Lena Latour was errorless in 20 attempts, recording six kills for a .300 percentage. Luna Tsujimoto led all players with 15 digs while Shelley Anderson posted 30 assists.
UCI got off to a hot start, hitting .500 in the first set but it was the Rainbow Wahine block that would come through in the end. The Anteaters used the block of Anderson and Dennis, followed by an ace from Ella Rosenfeld to grab an 11-9 edge. The UCI lead climbed to three at 15-12 after a kill from Dennis was followed an attack error from Nikki Taylor. However, with the Anteaters leading 19-17, the 'Bows went on a 5-1 run to claim a 22-20 edge. UCI rallied behind a solo block from Dennis and Marisa Bubica found the deep corner for a kill as the Anteaters caught Hawai'i 24 points apiece. That would be UCI's final push as the Wahine went to Emily Maglio for a kill, who then paired up with Kendra Koelsch for a set-winning block.
Hawai'i sped out to a 6-2 lead in the second, hitting .571 early in the frame but UCI battled to cut the lead to one at 10-9 with Latour tooling the ball off the Wahine block. UH jumped ahead by running the ball through their middles but the Anteaters answered with back-to-back blocks from Rosenfeld, Anderson and Bubica to tie the score at 14 points apiece. The Anteaters hurt their own cause, following a Hawai'i timeout with a service error and Koelsch shoved the ball to the back corner to put the 'Bows ahead again (16-14). Hawai'i maintained its hold over the Anteaters as Taylor hit a deep shot down the line to stretch the gap to four at 22-18 and Hawai'i would take a two-set lead with Emily Maglio and Kalei Greeley providing the block.
It was all Hawai'i in the third as the 'Bows established an early a 6-2 lead for the second straight set. The gap extended to five (9-4) after Olivia Magill capped a rally with a shot off the Anteater hands. Hawai'i sped up the pace and would pull ahead at 16-8 on an ace from McKenna Granato that hit the backline. The Anteaters were unable to make a dent in the deficit, falling behind as many as 10 and the 'Bows would complete the sweep on a kill from Granato.
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