CLEVELAND, OHIO – UC Irvine recorded its second sweep of the day with a 25-17, 26-24, 25-23 victory over Bowling Green at the CSU Invitational in Woodling Gynmasium.

The Anteaters go to 3-5 on the season, while the Falcons drop their second match of the day and are 2-7 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UCI hit a season-high .294 (49-12-126)
>Middle blocker Idara Akpakpa led the Anteaters, posting a season-high 14 kills and hitting .591 (14-1-22). The senior also had a team-best four total blocks
>Libero Haley DeSales matched her career-best with 23 digs
>Loryn Carter (12) and Harlee Kekauoha (10) followed Akpakpa in kills
>BGU was led by Katelyn Meyer's match-high 15 kills

TURNING POINTS
SET 1
>UCI used a 7-0 streak which included two aces by Ali Koumelis and a pair of blocks to break the set open 15-8
>Three more unanswered pushed the gap to 18-10
>Idara Akpakpa and Loryn Carter teamed up for a block then each delivered a kill to end the set, 25-17
>The Anteaters committed just one error in the first stanza, hitting .438 (15-1-32)

SET 2
>Harlee Kekauoha added a kill and assist on a block with Makayla Wolfe to move UCI out to a 6-3 lead
>Two more kills by Akpakpa and one by Carter forced a Falcon timeout, 13-8
>UCI led 16-11 only to see Bowling Green rattle off five in a row to tie the set at 16 all
>The Anteaters were ignited by Carter with two kills and an ace by Wolfe to take a 21-18 lead
>With UCI on top 22-19, the Anteaters had four straight miscues to give Bowling Green the 23-22 lead and force head coach Ashlie Hain to call a timeout
>UCI would score the next two out of the break to hold set point 24-23, but a BGU block would keep the set going, 24-24
>The Anteaters would end the set with a kill by Kekauoha and a BGU attack error, 26-24

SET 3
>A kill by Abby Marjama was followed by a block and kill by Carter plus two more BGU attack errors to give the Anteaters a 10-7 advantage
>With the set tied at 13-13, UCI had five consecutive kills, two by Akpakpa for an 18-13 cushion
>Bowling Green closed to 21-19 until a Marjama kill stopped the momentum
>A kill by Akpakpa gave the Anteaters match point, but the Falcons would not go down without a fight, scoring the next two, 24-23 and forcing UCI timeout
>A kill by Akpakpa would end it 25-23

NOTES
>It is the second time this season UCI has had three players record double-digit kills
>Freshman Lauren Russ recorded a career-high nine digs
>Setter Ali Koumelis recorded her second double-double of the day with 43 set assists and 11 digs. The senior also had a season-high three aces versus the Falcons
>This is the first time this season UCI has strung together consecutive wins and the first sweeps of the year
>This was the first meeting ever with Bowling Green

UP NEXT
>UCI battles No. 11 Illinois at 8:00 a.m. PT Saturday