UC Irvine
UCLA
UC Irvine Swept By No. 14 UCLA
September 18, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine posted a .337 hitting percentage against 14th-ranked UCLA (8-1) but the Anteaters were unable to keep pace with the Bruins, falling 25-23, 25-17, 25-21 Friday morning at Crawford Court at the UCI/LBSU Mizuno Invitational.
Harlee Kekauoha led the Anteaters' (4-6) effort with a team-high 16 kills in 28 swings with no errors for a .571 hitting percentage. Ella Rosenfeld also did not commit a miscue, converting on six of 14 attempts to hit .429. Shelley Anderson handed out 22 assists while and led the team with eight digs.
UCLA scored four unanswered point in the first set before UCI got on the board but the Anteaters chipped at the margin by hitting .333 for the set and caught the Bruins at 10 points apiece. Anderson went to Kekauoha to give UCI its first lead of the set (11-10) and the two sides kept the score close. However, at 19-19, Kyra Rogers and Claire Felix sent back an attempt by Victoria Dennis and Rogers would put away a kill as UCLA grabbed a 20-19 lead. Ryann Chandler came out of a UCI timeout with an ace to stretch the lead to three at 22-19 but the Anteaters rallied again to close the gap to one behind a kill from Kekauoha and an ace by Luna Tsujimoto. That would be all as Zana Muno recorded a kill to give UCLA set point and Rachel Inouye found Jordan Anderson to end the set.
The second set belonged to the Bruins, who stormed out to a 15-5 lead and never looked back. The Anteaters hit .259 but were unable to contain UCLA, which hit a match-best .406 for the set. UCI fell behind two sets after a kill down the line by Anderson.
UCLA edged ahead in the third at 10-6 on a kill by Reily Buechler but UCI closed the gap to one at 10-9 after the Anteaters came out on the winning end of an extended rally. The Bruins stretched the lead out to four a second time following a back-row kill from Buechler (14-10). UCI was unable to convert on consecutive plays and UCLA put together a four-point run to extend the gap to six at 18-12. The Anteaters were unable to halt the rally as Muno aced Chloe Hakim but Muno would commit a service error on the next play. A kill by Kekauoha followed by an attack error by Anderson trimmed the deficit to four (19-14) and then three at 20-17 as Kekauoha went cross court for the kill. UCI countered a pair of Bruin points with back-to-back kills from Lena Latour and Kekauoha would connect for a deep corner shot as the Anteaters crept closer at 22-20. However, that would be as UCLA followed an Anteater service error with an ace by Taylor Formica to end the match.
UCI hosts Oregon State tonight at 7:00 p.m. at Crawford Court.
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