UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara · Wednesday, Nov. 23 · 5:00 p.m. · Thunderdome
Live Stats Video
North Texas at UC Irvine · Saturday, Nov. 27 · 1:00 p.m. · Bren Events Center
Live Stats Video
QUICK HITS
UC Irvine will close out the season, traveling to UC Santa Barbara Wednesday (Nov. 23) for a 5:00 p.m. match at The Thunderdome then returns home to host North Texas in a non-conference match Saturday (Nov. 27) at 1:00 p.m at the Bren Events Center.
UC Santa Barbara is 17-11 overall and 8-7 in the Big West, coming off a 3-1 loss at Hawaii Saturday night.
UCSB holds a 70-12 series record advantage, beating UCI 3-0 at the Bren Center on Nov. 5.
The Anteaters and Mean Green have met five times before with UCI owning a 3-2 lead. The two teams last met in 1999. NT won in five the last time the teams tangled.
North Texas suffered a 3-1loss to Southern Miss in the Conference USA quarterfinal match last week.
North Texas is 13-17 overall and will play at Long Beach State Friday before heading to Irvine.
SENIOR SALUTE
Prior to Saturday's match, UCI will honor seniors Shelley Anderson, Arden Davis, Victoria Dennis and Danielle Geiger.
The senior class helped upset a top 25 team in 2015 and top-10 team this year as well as swept Long Beach State, a first for the program since 2003
Shelley Anderson and libero Arden Davis have been named All-Big selections and have their place in the UCI career records. Anderson ranks third in set assists (3,898) and 16th in aces (91) all-time, while Davis is sixth in digs (1,527). Anderson also holds the eighth and 14th spots and Davis can be found in the seventh and 15th positions on the UCI season list. Davis scooped a career-high 32 against Xavier in 2013, which tied for sixth most in a match by an Anteater.
Dennis leads the squad in kills with a 3.62 average, which is fifth best among conference players. The outside hitter also ranks fifth in the Big West in points per set at 4.01. She had a career-high 31 kills versus San Diego State which ranks tied for 12th best in a match at UCI and is the third most by a Big West player this year. Her 387 kills this season ranks 15th most at UCI and her 1,009 attack attempts is 20th
Geiger has led the 'Eaters in blocking this year with a 0.78 mark. She has recorded 80 block assists, which ranks 22nd in the UCI season record book. The middle blocker recorded a career-high seven block assists against San Diego earlier this season and Utah State in 2014. She pounded a career-high 19 kills versus Long Beach State and Fresno State this year.
REWIND
In a match that was closer than the score suggests, UCI dropped a 3-0 loss at UC Davis last week. The Aggies had more kills (54-46), but the Anteaters had more digs (52-46) and blocks (6.5-6.0). Victoria Dennis and Harlee Kekauoha led the Anteaters with 11 kills each. Kekauoha recorded a double-double with 10 digs. Loryn Carter had nine kills and Makayla Wolfe added seven kills. Arden Davis had a team-high 15 digs.
UCI started last week with a 3-2 victory over Long Beach State at the Bren Center in a replay of the Sept. 24 match. The match, which LBSU originally won 3-2, was protested by UCI due to a substitution scoring error. The NCAA upheld the protest and ruled the match was to replayed. The match was resumed during set two, with Irvine leading 1-0 in the match and leading 20-18 in set two.
After winning the second set, LBSU won the next two forcing a fifth set. The Forty-Niners seemed to be clearly in charge with a 10-4 lead until the Anteaters mounted an epic comeback, going on a 9-2 run to take a 13-12 lead. UCI fought off match point and scored the final two points to claim a 17-15 victory.
Dennis led the Anteaters with 24 kills, seven digs and two solo blocks. Geiger tied her career-high with 19 kills, while Kekauoha added 11 kills and 10 digs. Luna Tsujimoto had a team-best 20 digs followed by Haley DeSales who tied her career-high with 18 digs and pitched in five kills and three aces.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Kekauoha is 12th in the country in aces with 49. She is second in the Big West with a 0.44 ace average, which ranks 21th nationally.
Kekauoha is one of only nine players in the country with three triple-doubles this season. The opposite is averaging 2.47 kills, 2.16 digs and 0.51 blocks per set. 81 career aces.
In Big West matches, Luna Tsujimoto is fifth in digs with a 4.28 mark.
The Anteaters have recorded the most assists (1,353) in the Big West and are second in total kills (125) and aces (61). UCI is third in the Big West in aces per set (1.44). UCI recorded 14 aces against USF the most by a Big West school this season.
