Box Score IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine won the first two sets, but could not put Hawaii away, falling 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 20-25, 11-15) at the Bren Center Sunday afternoon in front of 1,154 fans.

The loss snaps UCI's four-match winning streak and evens the season record at 7-7 overall and 1-1 in the Big West. Hawaii goes to 2-0 in conference play and 6-5 overall.

COACH ASHLIE HAIN SAID
"We didn't execute in some places and Hawaii stayed steady. We did things well volleyball-wise and we just need to be mentally tough."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Three Anteaters recorded double figure kills led by opposite Harlee Kekauoha's season-high 15 and Abby Marjama's career-high 15. Kekauoha also had a season-high 17 digs and  Marjama also totaled a career-best five block assists
>Outside hitter Loryn Carter added 13 kills
>Senior middle blocker Idara Akpakpa tied her career-high with eight block assists and nine total blocks.
>Hawaii's McKenna Granato pounded a match-high 24 kills
>UCI recorded a season-high 15 blocks

TURNING POINTS
SET 1
>Consecutive kills by Loryn Carter, Idara Akpakpa and Harlee Kekauoha gave UCI a 13-11 lead then a kill by Abby Marjama and an ace by Haley DeSales pushed the advantage to 17-13
>UCI would hold a 20-16 lead before the serving of Faith Ma'afala put the Anteaters on their heels and Hawaii scored five in a row to take a 21-20 lead
>With the score tied at 23-23, UCi would use a kill by Kekauoha and a Hawaii attack that sailed wide to deliver the Anteater 25-23 victory

SET 2
>Hawaii jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead and extended the margin to 18-13 on a kill by McKenna Granato
>The Anteaters caught fire, outscoring the Rainbow Wahine 7-2 to tie the set at 20 all
>A kill by Marjama and an attack error by Hawaii gave UCI the 23-21 advantage
>Back-to-back kills by Carter put the set away 25-22

SET 3
>UCI closed to 20-19, but Hawaii would score the next three to open a 22-19 lead
> A kill by Kekauoha, a Hawaii attack error and a kill by Sophie Wood knotted the set at 22-22
>Hawaii would record a kill and an ace to reach set point 24-22 and following Rainbow Wahine service error UCI would fire a service long to hand Hawaii the set 25-23

SET 4
>The Anteaters started with a 5-0 lead only to watch Hawaii score the next eight
>Two UCI mistakes and a kill by Granato extended Hawaii's lead to 17-11
>UCI put a scare in Hawaii inching to 24-20 with a 5-2 run, but an Anteater service error forced a fifth set, 25-20

SET 5
>The final set started with two UCI blocks both with Akpakpa involved
>Two Granato kills gave Hawaii some separation 7-5
>Four more Granato kills and a service ace by Liva put the set almost out of reach 12-7
>Hawaii had three straight attack errors to keep UCI in it, 12-10, but a solo block by Natasha Burns killed UCI's momentum and Hawaii went on to the 15-11 victory

NOTES
>Marjama, who leads the Big West in aces at 29, had two aces, recording two or more aces seven times this year
>DeSales has recorded double-digit digs in every match this season, leading UCI with 23 Sunday
>It is the sixth time this season UCI has out-blocked an opponent (15-6)
>Hawaii's 11 aces are the most allowed by UCI in 2018
>Hawaii remains undefeated against UCI all-time (39-0)

UP NEXT
>In the lone match of the week, UCI will entertain UC Davis next Friday (Sept. 28) at 7:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center