Box Score BERKELEY, Calif. – UC Irvine beat Loyola-Chicago 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-16) to sweep the competition at the Cal Molten Classic held at Haas Pavilion.

UCI defeated Cal (3-1) and Seattle U (3-0) before taking down the Ramblers Saturday night.

Junior Haley DeSales was named tournament MVP after leading UCI with 27 kills and 30 digs over three matches. DeSales led the Anteaters over LUC with 10 kills and eight digs.

Junior Ali Koumelis was also named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 9.20 set assists over 10 sets.

Harlee Kekauoha added nine kills, nine digs and three blocks, while Luna Tsujimoto had three aces and a match-best 15 digs. Brianna Montgomery recorded seven kills and Makayla Wolfe knocked down a match-high five blocks.

UCI out-hit Loyola .357-.100 and controlled the net 9-3.

Gabi Maciagowski had a team-high 10 kills for the Ramblers with Alex Nuunez recording 12 digs.

A 5-0 run in the first set was sparked by a pair of Luna Tsujimoto aces to help the Anteaters jump out to a 9-3 lead. Loyola-Chicago rallied with a 7-1 run of their own and tied the set at 12-12. Two Rambler errors and a kill and two blocks by Makayla Wolfe gave UCI the 21-17 cushion. A Haley DeSales kill gave UCI set point 24-19, but Loyola scored the next four to narrow the score to 24-23. A Rambler service error handed the Anteaters the set 25-23.  
 
A Wolfe ace gave UCI an 11-9 lead in the second set before the Ramblers scored the next five points to move in front 14-11. Following a UCI timeout, the Anteaters had a kill by Harlee Kekauoha and two by DeSales to even the score at 14 all.  UCI would close-out the set with the last 10 points, nine of them on Loyola-Chicago errors, 25-17.
 
Two Brianna Montgomery kills and a block by Wolfe and Kekauoha helped the Anteaters jump out to a 5-1 start in the third. Back-to-back kills by DeSales moved the margin to 10-6. Three Kekauoha kills and a block with Wolfe stretched the score to 18-10. A Merin Kolte kill ended teh match 25-16.

The Anteaters will travel to Saint Louis next week to participate in the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic. UCI will face Kennesaw State in the first match on Friday (Sept. 1) before taking on the host Billikans and Illinois State on Saturday (Sept.2).