UCI Digs Up Win Against Gauchos
November 07, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine recorded 72 digs, the second-most this season in a 3-1 (25-13, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23) win Saturday night over UC Santa Barbara at the Thunderdome.
The Anteaters, who climbed to 12-13 overall and 6-7 in the Big West, dominated play in the back row, and were led by Luna Tsujimoto's match-high 21 scoops. Chloe Hakim boosted the back-row efforts with a career-best 17digs. Shelley Anderson posted a season-best 12 digs to go along with 48 assists for a double-double while Sydney Wright chipped in a career-high eight digs to go along with 10 kills. Marisa Bubica led all players with a season-high 19 kills and hit .341 for the match while Victoria Dennis unleashed a .400 hitting percentage on the Gauchos, converting seven of 15 attempts with just one error.
UCI cruised to open the first set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead to force a UCSB timeout. The Anteaters continued to apply the pressure, widening the margin to an insurmountable 11 points (18-7) on a kill from Bubica. The Gauchos never threatened and ended the frame on an unforced error from Devin Joos.
UCSB bounced back in the second by hitting .316 for a match-best clip. UCI trailed early at 10-7 following a kill from Phoebe Grunt but then reeled off five unanswered points to turn a 12-10 deficit into a 14-12 lead. The Gauchos punched back by mounting a 6-0 run with Jaylen Villanueva acing the Anteaters on four straight serves (18-14). UCI battled back to cut the lead to one after Anderson found Wright for a kill and then registered a service winner (19-18). Bubica led a late charge by knocking down a pair of kills to tie the score at 23 apiece but a service error was followed by an unforced error to tie the match at a set apiece.
Both sides struggled in the third set with neither team hitting above .200. The Gauchos asserted themselves at the net, out-blocking UCI 7-1, but were unable to contain Bubica, whose back-to-back kills were followed by a UCSB error to give the Anteaters a 21-18 lead. Annie Hasselmann stopped Bubica to close the gap to one at 22-21 but Anderson went back to the outside hitter on the next play and the Gauchos took a timeout trailing 23-21. Samantha Frost followed the break with a service error but Lena Latour gave UCI set point and then came through again to notch the game-winning point.
UCSB took a 10-6 lead in the fourth after Tsujimoto and Harlee Kekauoha were called for setting errors on consecutive plays. However, UCI climbed back into the match as the Gauchos returned the favor with a pair of attack errors from Britton Taylor and Elizabeth Sheffield. At 16-14, Tsujimoto dealt Anderson an assist and Frost aced Villanueva to tie the score at 17-17. A kill from Kekauoha gave UCI the lead for good at 23-21 and Bubica answered the call on match point, knocking down her 19th kill to give the Anteaters the win.
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