FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
National Volleyball Invitational Championship
UC Irvine at UNLV
Thursday, Nov. 29 | 7:00 PM | Cox Pavilion
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For the second consecutive year, UC Irvine will compete in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The Anteaters will take on UNLV Thursday (Nov. 29) at 7:00 p.m. at Cox Pavilion.
 
Fresno State and UC Santa Barbara will play before the Anteaters and Lady Rebels at 4:30 p.m.
 
The winners of the two matches advance to the second round Friday (Nov. 30) in Las Vegas.
 
UCI IN THE POSTSEASON
UCI is 3-4 all-time in the postseason, going 2-1 in the NIVC and 1-3 in NCAA action.
 
UCI advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2017 NIVC, falling to Texas Tech 3-1. The Anteaters beat Sacramento State (3-0) and Pacific (3-2) to advance to the quarterfinals.
 
This is the second time in program history that the Anteaters have made back-to-back postseason appearances. The team went to the NCAAs in 2003 and 2004 when head coach Ashlie Hain played for the Anteaters.
 
SCOUTING THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
UCI beat UNLV, 3-2 in Las Vegas at the UNLV Challenge last season.
 
The Lady Rebels lead the series record 5-4 all-time.

UNLV is 19-11 overall and was 10-8 in the Mountain West, good for a tie for fifth place.
 
UCI beat Fresno State earlier this season on a neutral court, 3-0 with the Anteaters out-hitting FS .254-.170.
 
Harlee Kekuaoha led the Anteaters with 14 kills, while Loryn Carter followed with 10 kills, hitting .296 (10-2-27). Aubrey Folk came off the bench to hit .458 and lead Fresno State with 12 kills.

The Anteaters trail the Bulldogs 16-12 all-time, but have won the last two meetings.
 
FS has played in NIVC three times and are returning to the postseason for the first time in 16 years. The last Fresno State postseason match was against UC Santa Barbara, a 3-1 loss to the Gauchos in 2002.
 
The Bulldogs are 20-10 on the year and finished second in the Mountain West with a 13-5 record.
 
UCSB finished in fourth behind the Anteaters at 9-7 and are currently 17-11 overall. 
 
UC Santa Barbara ended its regular season winning three straight matches.
 
It is the Gauchos first postseason appearance since 2013.
 
UCI swept the season series with UCSB, taking each match by a score of 3-1. In the last meeting in Irvine, UCI held the Gauchos to a .129 hitting percentage (47-27-155), while racking up 70 digs, seven blocks and seven aces.  Idara Akpakpa had a team-high 13 kills, while hitting .500 (13-2-22).
 
ABOUT THE ANTEATERS
UCI is 16-12 overall and finished in third place in the Big West with a 10-6 record.
 
UCI is 5-5 on the road this season and 3-2 on neutral courts.

The Anteaters are 0-5 in five-set matches in 2018.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
UCI is second in the Big West in aces (1.38) and third in blocks (2.08).  The Anteaters have out-blocked opponents 12 times, including a season-high 15 against Hawaii the first time the teams played.
 
HONORS ABOUND
Five Anteaters were named to All-Big West Conference teams, highlighted by four selected to the first-team and Abby Marjama named Co-Freshman of the Year.
 
UCI's four first team nods were only matched by Hawaii.
 
Marjama joined Kari Pestolesi as the only two Anteaters to be crowned Freshman of the Year. Marjama registered four Big West Freshman of the Week awards over the course of the season, the most of any newcomer   She was also named honorable mention and became the 23^rd UCI player to be named to the All-Freshman team.
 
Seniors Idara Akpakpa, Haley DeSales and Ali Koumelis as well as sophomore Loryn Carter were named to the first team.

It is the second consecutive year Akpakpa and DeSales have been tabbed a first-teamer with Carter and Koumelis earning their first first-team recognition.
 
PACING THE ANTEATERS
Loryn Carter leads UCI with a 2.89 kill average, good for ninth best amongst Big West players. The outside hitter has recorded double-figure kills 17 times this season, including five of the last eight matches.

Abby Marjama has led the team in kills on 11 occasions and recorded 14 double-figure kill performances. She is second on the team in kills with a 2.67 average, but is eighth best in the Big West in conference-only matches with a 3.08 average.
 
Marjama leadd the conference in aces with a 0.43 average. She fired a school record nine aces in four sets against Saint Mary's which were the most in the conference this season and tied for second most in the country.
 
IN THE MIDDLE
The middle attack is led by senior Idara Akpakpa and junior Makayla Wolfe

Akpakpa ranks fourth in the Big West with a 1.04 blocking average, but is second in conference matches with a 1.15 mark.  She also ranked second in conference-only hitting percentage (352) and is sixth overall (.316).

Wolfe ranks third in the Big West in hitting percentage at .341. She averages 2.06 kills and 0.90 blocks.

SCOOPING THEM UP
Senior Haley DeSales ranks third in the Big West in digs with a 4.69 average. She has totaled digs in double-digits in all but one match this season, recording 20 or more digs nine times. DeSales, who started the first 20 matches as a libero has moved to the pin with absence of Harlee Kekauoha and had a season-high 10 kills in the last win over the Gauchos.

Erin Alonso has now stepped in to the libero role, averaging 2.32 digs per set, totaling a career-high 24 against UCSB.

GUIDING THE OFFENSE
Setter Ali Koumelis was third in the Big West in set assists with a 9.53 average. The senior ranks seventh all-time at UCI with 2,311 career set assists. She also averaged 2.45 digs per set and 19 aces.