IRVINE, Calif. --- Senior Marisa Bubica slammed the match-winner to punctuate a 25-23, 25-14, 25-20 sweep of UC Santa Barbara Tuesday at the Bren Events Center.
The Anteaters' (13-15, 7-9 Big West) 3-0 win over the Gauchos (7-20, 3-13) is the first for UCI since 2007 and marks the second win over UCSB this year, a feat UCI had not accomplished in 2008.
Freshman Harlee Kekauoha led the way with a match-leading 10 kills while Bubica had nine to go along with seven digs and two block assists. Sydney Wright put away eight kills and hit .333 with two digs and two block assists in her final collegiate match. Ella Rosefeld chipped in four kills with three digs and a block assist in her finale. Shelley Anderson posted 32 assists and Luna Tsujimoto and Kekauoha paced all players with 12 digs. Idaka Akpakpa led UCI to a 10.5 to 6 lead in blocks with five block assists and two solo stuffs, a personal-best for the freshman.
UCI fell behind early, 4-1 but quickly eliminated the deficit and took an 8-7 lead after consecutive unforced errors by the Gauchos. The Anteaters continued to apply the pressure as Sydney Wright and Victoria Dennis stuffed Devin Joos and Kekauoha followed with a kill as UCSB took a timeout at 10-7. The Gauchos were unable to halt the run as UCI reeled off three more points before UCSB middle blocker Phoebe Grunt hit the sideline (13-8) for a kill. A 3-0 rally by the Gauchos swung the momentum in their favor (14-13) but Wright and Idara Akpakpa sent back an attempt by Joos to keep UCI ahead by one. A cagey tip from Bubica fell onto UCSB territory, pushing UCI ahead again by three (18-15) and the senior then dropped a serve onto the backline to ace Jaylen Villaneuva for a 20-16 advantage. UCSB managed to cut the lead and half and looked to pull to within one but Akpakpa and Wright denied Ali Barbeau (22-19) for a key block. Akpakpa then delivered a solo block on Britton Taylor to give UCI set point and after an attempt by Kekauoha flew long, Anderson dished to Rosenfeld for a slam down the middle.
UCSB took control early in the second again, building a 7-3 lead. The Anteaters rallied to close the gap to two at 8-6 on a solo block by Akpakpa and the triple block of Bubica, Akpakpa and Kekauoha denied Sheffield as UCI came to within a point at 9-8. Bubica followed with an off-speed roll shot and Wright fired a service winner to give UCI the 10-9 edge. The Anteater block continued to make noise, this time on Villanueva, an attempt by Hanna Nielson fell into the net and Wright delivered her second ace of the night as the UCI lead stretched to five (14-9). The lead climbed to eight (21-13) with Rosenfeld and Bubica doing the heavy lifting. Akpakpa ended a broken play with a one-handed slam (22-13) and then paired with Anderson to block the Gauchos for set point. Ali Barbeau's attempt would fall into the net to end the frame.
The Anteaters surged to a 10-5 lead in the third but a pair of unforced errors and a kill from Villnueva saw the Gauchos jump into the fray, trailing by two at 10-8. An attempt by Rosenfeld hit the antenna (10-9) before Wright tooled the ball off the Gaucho block to halt their rally. The two teams traded points and UCI managed to maintain a one-point lead until a pair of key digs by Lena Latour led to a cross-court kill from Wright (17-15). A serve by Anderson caught UCSB off-guard for an ace (20-16) before kills from Wright and Akpakpa put the match out of reach.
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