Box Score Fresno, Calif. – Danielle Geiger's career-high 19 kills was not enough as Fresno State defeated UC Irvine (25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21) at the Save Mart Center Thursday.
Geiger pounded a career-high 19 kills out of the middle, hitting .484 (19-4-31) with a team-best five blocks. Harlee Kekauoha recorded nine kills and three aces and Luna Tsujimoto had a match-high 20 digs. Victoria Dennis and Loryn Carter each had eight kills in the loss for UCI (3-8).
Fresno State who improves to 9-2 overall, was led by Aliesha Coates match-high 22 kills and three aces. Carly Scarbough had 15 kills and three blocks. Brielle Hefner recorded 11 kills and Gertu Vider had a team-high five blocks.
UCI scored the first point of the match then Fresno State had five straight points to take a 5-1 lead in the first set. The Bulldogs scored three more to extend the lead to 13-8. Fresno State continued to lead until a kill by Idara Akpakpa and a solo block by Loryn Carter tied the score at 20-20. FSU would use a UCI service error, a kill and an ace to pull back ahead 23-20 and win 25-21.
Fresno State would jump out to a 3-0 lead in the second set and controlled the match, leading 20-12. UCI rallied, scoring 11 unanswered, which included five kills by Danielle Geiger and three aces by Harlee Kekauoha to take a 23-20 advantage. The Anteaters would win the set 25-21 on a kill by Carter and a solo block by Shelley Anderson.
In the third set, UCI would lead 14-11 on a Geiger kill. The Bulldogs would out-score UCI 5-2 to take a 16-15 advantage. UCI would use two FSU hitting errors, one a block by Kekauoha and Geiger and kills by Kekauoha and Carter to open a 20-17 lead. Fresno State was not done as they caught the Anteaters at 21-21. The teams would exchange points until 23-23 when a Bulldog kill was followed by a block to end the set 25-23 for Fresno State.
Fresno State would take a 17-12 lead on four Anteater attack errors, three due to blocks and a kill in the fourth set. FSU would win the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.
UCI travels to Bakersfield tomorrow to start the Roadrunner Classic against San Francisco at 4:00 p.m. from the Icardo Center.
