UC Irvine
San Diego
Tsujimoto Digs Career-High 26 As UC Irvine Handles Oregon State
September 18, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. ---UC Irvine went 1-1 against the Pac-12 today following a 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 19-25, 25-19) win over Oregon State Saturday evening at Crawford Court.
Luna Tsujimoto led UCI to a 73-52 dig advantage, scooping up a career-high 26 digs to lead all players and was bolstered by personal-best from Chloe Hakim, who logged 14 digs. Harlee Kekauoha registered a double-double of 18 kills and 13 digs to go along with six block assists while Victoria Dennis chipped in 17 kills. Idara Akpakpa tied a personal-best with seven block assists in the win.
Both UCI and Oregon State played at a fast pace in the first and neither team was able to establish a substantial lead. The Beavers edged ahead at 10-8 after a kill by Kory Cheshire but a running dig by Tsujimoto led to a kill by Kekauoha as UCI quickly tied the score at 11-11. With the score knotted at 14-14 a kill by Lena Latour sparked a 3-0 UCI run as the Anteaters pulled ahead 18-15 with Rosenfeld connecting for the kill on the slide. Katelyn Driscoll halted UCI's spurt but Anderson put away an assist from Chloe Hakim and Lanesha Reagan followed by hitting the ball long (20-17). The Beavers rallied and Dana Backlund aced Latour to bring OSU to within a point at 22-21, prompting a UCI timeout. OSU targeted Latour again but the sophomore calmly handled the serve and Kekauoha delivered to give UCI set point at 24-21. Tsujimoto's serve fell into the net but Kekauoha split the Beaver block with a cross-court kill to end the frame.
After hitting .567 in the first, the Anteaters cooled in the second, hitting .116. However the defense held Oregon State to a .021 clip. UCI jumped out to a 13-6 lead but unforced errors allowed the Beavers to close the gap to three at 15-12. The freshman duo of Idara Akpakpa and Kekauoha prevented an OSU point as they stuffed Haley Clarke, to put the lead at four. Dennis salvaged a tight set with an left-handed drop shot at (21-17) but the Beavers' triple block of Emilie Wilmes, Clarke and Driscoll narrowed the margin to two (21-19). UCI went with the hot hand of Kekauoha, who hit a shot down the line and then closed the frame with a cross-court winner.
The tide turned the Beavers' way in the third as OSU cruised to a 10-6 lead on a .344 hitting percentage. UCI battled and Dennis meted out a pair of kills to cut the lead in half at 10-8. UCI crept even closer at 11-10 after a service winner by Anderson but a Beaver block paired with a UCI attack error opened the lead back up to three at 13-10. Anteater struggles on defense staked the Beavers to a five-point margin at 17-12 but UCI took advantage with a pair of kills and a rotation error on the Beavers to pull to within two (17-15). The Anteaters were unable to maintain their momentum and Oregon State pulled ahead by six points (22-16) after Backlund and Clarke sent back a Dennis attempt. Dennis delivered back-to-back kills but Marshall hit a back-row shot to hold off the sweep.
The fourth set was evenly played and neither team could build a lead of more than two until at 17-17, Oregon State committed back-to-back unforced errors and Tsujimoto dealt an assist to Rosenfeld for a 20-17 edge. Kekauoha aced Marshall but a kill by Katelyn Driscoll and a block by Clarke saw UCI's lead close to two at 21-19. However, that would be as close as the Beavers would get as Backlund was called for a double-contact and Ella Roesenfeld and Dennis dealt a crucial block on Driscoll. Rosenfeld slammed the ball on the over-pass for match point and Anderson's kill would end the game.
UCI takes on No. 21 San Diego Saturday at the Bren Events Center with first serve at noon.
