Box Score IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine recorded its fifth straight win, blanking UC Riverside 25-13, 25-22, 25-22 at the Bren Events Center Saturday.

It is the third consecutive 3-0 victory for UCI who improves to 12-7 overall and 6-1 in Big West play. UC Riverside goes to 6-12 on the year and 1-6 in league action.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Middle blocker Makayla Wolfe tied her season-high with a team-high 12 kills. The junior hit .526 (12-2-19) and added two blocks
>Idara Akpakpa and Abby Marjama followed with 11 kills each. Marjama also added 10 digs and two aces
>UCI had 69 digs, the fourth most this season overall. The other matches with more than 69 were in all five sets
>Nailah Jones and Christina Escamilla led UC Riverside with 11 kills apiece

HEAD COACH ASHLIE HAIN SAID
>It wasn't the cleanest match of the year, but we made plays when we needed to."

TURNING POINTS
SET 1
>A kill by Makayla Wolfe was followed by three Highlander attack errors, the last a block by Wolfe and Abby Marjama to put the Anteaters in front 8-5
>An ace by Marjama extended the margin to 11-6 and forced a UCR timeout
>Seven straight points started a 9-1 run to end the set 25-13

SET 2
>UC Riverside took an early 6-3 lead
>Two Highlander errors plus a kill by Wolfe gave UCI the 10-8 lead
>The teams would remain close until UCR scored four in a row to take a 18-15 advantage
>UCI would knot the score 21-21 on back-to-back Koumelis kills
>Following a UCI service error, the Anteaters closed the set with kills by Loryn Carter and Akpakpa, an ace by Koumelis and a solo block by Akpakpa, 25-22

SET 3
>A 4-0 run by the Highlanders put UCR in front 8-5
>A block by Akpakpa and Carter sparked three straight points for the Anteaters, tying the score at 14-14
>UCI made its move with five unanswered to take a 20-17 lead
>UCI would not relinquish the lead ending with a block by Carter and Akpakpa, 25-22

NOTES
>It is the 11^th consecutive win over UC Riverside
>Libero Haley DeSales recorded 21 digs, her 18^th match with double figures
>Koumelis had her eighth double-double with 35 assists and 11 digs
>Nicole Luszczak made her first start, recording three kills and two aces
>Every Anteater that played recorded at least one dig
>Erin Alonso had 10 digs, her third double-digit dig total of the year

UP NEXT
>UCI will hit the road, traveling to UC Davis next Saturday (Oct. 20) for a 7:00 p.m. match from The Pavilion