Box Score BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – UC Irvine could not hold off CSU Bakersfield in a 3-2 loss at the Icardo Center Friday.

The Roadrunners remained undefeated in five set matches (4-0) with a 18-25, 24-26, 25-17, 25-18, 16-14 comeback victory.

UC Irvine (12-7, 5-4) was led by reigning Big West Offensive Player of the Week Joy Umeh who had a match-high 22 kills.

Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu had a career-high 20 kills, hitting .405 (20-5-37). She also totaled four total blocks.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Freshman Marianna Bertolone and Ellen Veargason each added nine kills with Bertolone posting a career-high 13 digs
>Setter Indy DeSmet tied her career-high with a match-best 15 digs plus 23 set assists. Kelly Negron had 31 set assists
>Libero Carly Richter had a career-high five aces, all in the first set, to go with 13 digs
>Brooke Boiseau had a team-high 17 kills for CSUB who improve to 11-7 on the season and 4-5 in Big West action
>The Roadrunners out-hit (.265-.248), out-blocked (12-7) and out-aced (11-8) UCI. The Anteaters held a 66-58 dig advantage.

TURNING POINTS
FIRST SET
>UCI jump out to a 7-2 lead on a 5-0 run, fueled by Carly Richter's serving, including two aces
>Richter again did damage from the service line, firing three consecutive aces in a 6-0 run, 19-10
>Soana Leaea put away the set winner, 25-16

SECOND SET
>A Grace Colburn ace gave UCI a 5-2 lead
>The 'Runners responded on a 6-1 spurt to take their first lead of the match, 8-6
>CSUB lead 14-12 before the Anteaters tied it up on a kill by Marianna Bertolone and an block by Bertolone and Leaea
>The Roadrunners took control on a 6-2 run, 22-18
>UCI rallied on a 6-1 run of their own, which included three Onye Ofoegbu kills gave UCI a 24-23 lead and forced a CSUB timeout
>Kills by Bertolone and Joy Umeh capped the comeback, 26-24

THIRD SET
>Three straight kills gave CSUB a 9-6 lead
>Four more Roadrunner kills in a row stretched the advantage to 20-12
>CSU Bakersfield would win the set, 25-17

FOURTH SET
>Two aces were included in a 6-1 CSU Bakersfield run, 17-9
>UCI would come alive and kills by Umeh, Ofoegbu and Ellen Veargason would force a timeout, 23-17
>The teams would sideout to end the set 25-18
 
FIFTH SET
>A kill and block by Ofoegbu and a kill by Bertolone catapult UCI in front 6-3
>Out of a timeout, CSUB reenergized and tied it at 6-6
>A pair of kills by Umeh was followed by a Bertolone ace, 12-9
>UCI would hold match point on an Ofoegbu kill, 14-12, but the Roadrunners weren't done and scored the final four points of the match. The 'Runners stayed alive by three straight blocks and a kill by Miliica Vukobrat, 16-14
>The Anteaters hit -.095 (7-9-21) in the set

NOTES
>UCI is now 2-2 in five set matches
>Carly Richter's five aces is tied for 11th most in a match at UCI. She took over the team lead in aces with 20
>This is the first loss to CSUB (4-1)
>The Anteaters have recorded eight aces in each of the last two matches

UP NEXT
UCI heads to Cal Poly tomorrow for a 2:00 p.m. match in the Mott Athletic Complex.