Box Score IRVINE, Calif. – Joy Umeh put away a career-high 26 kills in UC Irvine's 3-2 victory (19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21, 15-10) at the Bren Events Center Saturday.

Umeh's 26 kills is the most by a Big West player this year. The outside hitter took 54 swings, hitting .333, while adding five digs and three block assists.

Long Beach State held a 12.5-12.0 advantage in blocks, but the Anteaters' 12 blocks are the second-best team total of 2021.

UCI improves to 12-6 overall and 5-3 in the Big West. Long Beach State goes to 9-10 overall and 3-5 in the Big West. With the win, UCI leads the Black & Blue Rivalry presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach, 5-0 over Long Beach.

HEAD COACH ASHLIE HAIN SAID
"I'm proud of the resiliency and fight of this young group. That was a tough gritty match and several people stepped up at crucial times."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu had 15 kills and a career-high nine block assists
>Opposite Ellen Veargason and outside hitter Marianna Bertolone each totaled seven kills with Veargason recording a career-best six block assists
>Setter Kelly Negron had her fourth double-double of the year with 28 set assists and 12 digs
>Libero Carly Richter had a team-best 14 digs
>LBSU was led by Katie Kennedy's 14 kills and Erykah Lovett's 11 kills and match-best 20 digs
>UCI had an 8-3 ace advantage over The Beach

FIRST SET
>LBSU led 5-2 without recording a kill. UCI errors plus an ace and block started the match
>Three Beach kills and a UCI attack error helped Long Beach expand the lead to 11-4
>A kill and two block assists by Ofoegebu plus an ace by Grace Colburn would edge the Anteaters closer, 14-16
>Long Beach would score the next three and go to win the set 25-19

SECOND SET
>UCI jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on kills by Soana Leaea, Marianna Bertolone and two by Joy Umeh plus a block by Leaea and Bertolone
>Long Beach closed within 7-6 before Ofoegbu went to work with two kills and a block assist to help the Anteaters increase the margin 11-6
>UCI would hold a 15-11 lead on a Leaea kill but The Beach would respond and tie the score at 17-17
>A kill by Veargason and Bertolone and a block by Bertolone and Leaea kept the Anteaters rolling to a 23-19 lead
>A kill by Umeh would give UCI the win, 25-21

THIRD SET
>LBSU used two UCI errors and two kills to move in front 10-8
>Long Beach State would lead 17-13 before UCI rallied on a kill by Veargason, Bertolone and two Beach errors to force a LBSU timeout, 18-17
>Long Beach State would end the set on a pair of blocks, 25-21

FOURTH SET
>Four straight kills started the set for The Beach
>Bertolone got the Anteaters started with a pair of aces and Ofoegbu logged a kill to tie the set at 5-5
>Consecutive kills by Ofoegbu put UCI up 8-6 before LBSU scored four in a row to take a 12-10 lead
>UCI responded on two kills by Umeh and an ace by Kelly Negron, 14-12
>The Anteaters continued to lead 18-14 only to watch Long Beach State rally, scoring the next three points
>UCI never relinquished the lead, coming back to score the next four on a kill by Umeh, two blocks by Ofoegbu and Veargason and an ace by Indy DeSmet, 22-17
>Kills by Bertolone and Veargason ended the set, 25-21

FIFTH SET
>Umeh took control of the fifth set with three straight kills followed by two Beach errors and an ace by Negron, 13-7
>A kill by Leaea on an overpass set up match point 14-7
>Following three LBSU kills, another kill by Umeh ended the match, 15-10

NOTES
>Umeh has led UCI in each of the last seven matches
>Soana Leaea tied her career-high with three kills
>The Anteaters snapped a two-match losing streak against the Beach
>UCI is 2-1 in five set matches this season

UP NEXT
UCI will be on the road for the next two matches, heading to CSUB on Oct.22 and Cal Poly on Oct. 23