Box Score LAS VEGAS, Calif. – Career nights for Harlee Kekauoha, Idara Akpakpa and Ali Koumelis led UC Irvine to a 3-2 (22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 23-25, 15-12) victory over UNLV at the UNLV Challenge Cup Friday evening.

Kekauoha put away a career-high 22 kills and a season-high 16 digs, while Akpakpa recorded a career-best 14 kills to go with three block assists. Koumelis recorded a career-high 54 set assists.

The Anteaters improve to 7-1 overall behind a brilliant defensive effort that saw UCI collect 80 digs and tie their season-high with nine blocks.
Haley DeSales added 12 kills and 12 digs and Brianna Montgomery had eight kills and three blocks. Redshirt freshman Danika Ferguson had five kills and three total blocks. Libero Luna Tsujimoto had a team-high 19 digs.

UNLV (4-5) had a trio of players with double-figure kills - Mariena Hayden (18), Ashley Owens (13) and Elsa Descamps (12).

UCI went on a 6-0 run late in the first set to take a 20-17 lead. Back-to-back kills by Haley DeSales gave UCI 22-19 advantage before UNLV used a 6-0 run of their own to close out the set with a 25-22 victory. The Anteaters hit -.057 with the Rebels recording eight team blocks in the first stanza.

With the score tied at 10 all in the second set, UCI went on a 5-1 spurt , which was capped by a kill by Harlee Kekauoha to take a 15-11 lead. A block by Brianna Montgomery and Danika Ferguson made it 18-12 and a kill by Ali Koumelis ended the set 25-18 for the Anteaters.

In the third set, a pair of kills by DeSales and two straight Rebel errors opened a 21-16 advantage for the Anteaters. A kill by Kekauoha and consecutive kills by Brianna Montgomery set up game point before a Rebel attack error sailed wide to give UCI the 25-20 victory.

Five unanswered points propelled the Anteaters to a 7-2 mark in the fourth set. UCI seemed to be in command, 23-16 when UNLV scored nine in a row to take the set 25-23.

Kekauoha took control of the fifth set with four consecutive kills (7-3) forcing a UNLV timeout. The Rebels would chip away and close to 10-8 on an ace. A kill by Danika Ferguson and set over in the middle of the court by Ali Koumelis expanded the gap to 12-8. With UCI holding set point 14-9, UNLV scored the next three before Koumelis put a ball over that couldn't be returned to end the set and match 15-12.

UCI concludes the tournament tomorrow with an 11:30 a.m. match against Weber State.