Box Score NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – UC Irvine held off CSUN 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-12) behind a balanced offense and good defense at The Matadome Friday night.

UC Irvine (19-3, 7-2) had four players with double-digit kills, led by junior Harlee Kekauoha's 18. She hit  .405 (18-3-37) and added 10 digs and two aces.

Junior Haley DeSales totaled 16 kills and two aces, junior Idara Akpakpa had 11 kills and two blocks and senior Brianna Montgomery tied her career-high with 10 kills. Sophomore Makayla Wolfe added nine kills and two solo blocks.

Setter Ali Koumelis guided the Anteaters to a .315 hitting percentage with 50 set assists. Libero Luna Tsujimoto had a match-high 19 digs, helping UCI out-dig CSUN 58-48.

Aeryn Owens posted a match-high 24 kills and team-best 15 digs as the Matadors go to 10-12 overall and 4-6 in the Big West.

CSUN held an 8-4 lead in the first set before UCI scored four in a row, all on Matador errors, to tie the game at 8 all. Two kills by Brianna Montgomery plus one by Idara Akpakpa and an ace by Harlee Kekauoha powered the Anteaters to a 16-13 advantage. CSUN would catch UCI at 18-18, but the Anteaters responded with back-to-back kills by Ali Koumelis and Kekuaoha to regain the lead 20-18. UCI would go on to take the set 25-21.

CSUN once again started strong with an 8-3 lead in the second set. The Matadors would continue to lead with UCI closing to 22-21 before a service error stopped the Anteater momentum. CSUN would score three of the next four points to close out the set 25-22.

UCI broke open the third set, 16-10 on the strength of two Kylie Green service aces. UCI would never relinquish the lead and win 25-20.

In the fourth set, the Matadors opened with an 8-2 advantage then built a 14-10 lead on a 3-0 run. Three consecutive kills by Montgomery narrowed the deficit to 15-14. Trailing 14-16, UCI went on a 5-2 run, which included three kills by Haley DeSales to take a 19-18 lead. CSUN would score the next five points, four coming from UCI attack errors, to move ahead 23-19 and force a fifth set with a 25-21 victory.

A block by Akpakpa and a kill by Makayla Wolfe gave UCI the 8-6 lead only to watch the Matadors score the next two to get back to even (8-8). The teams would trade points until UCI had consecutive kills by Kekauoha and Wolfe, 12-10 forcing a Matador timeout. A long rally which ended in a Matador attack error gave UCI the 15-12 win.

In a quick turnaround, UCI will be back in action tomorrow, traveling to Long Beach State for a 7:00 p.m. match in the Walter Pyramid.