IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine pushed league leading UC Santa Barbara to the limit, but lost 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 30-28, 21-25,  9-15) in a match that lasted two hours and 41 minutes at the Bren Events Center Friday.

The Anteaters go to 13-8 overall and 6-5 in the Big West, while UCSB improves to 14-9 on the year and 10-1 in league action.

Sophomore Joy Umeh led UCI with 15 kills and a career-high eight block assists.

The Anteaters tied their season's best with 14 blocks.

UCI also out-hit the Gauchos, .195 to .180, while UCSB led in aces (10-3) and digs (75-67).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu followed Umeh with 11 kills and five total blocks
>Rightside hitter Ellen Veargason totaled 10 kills, while outside hitter Marianna Bertolone had eight
>Setter Caitlin Kikta recorded 20 set assists and a team-high 12 digs, her fourth double-double of the season
>Setter Kelly Negron also posted a double-double with 24 set assists and 10 digs, her sixth double-double of 2021
>UC Santa Barbara's Michele Ohwobete led all players with 23 kills, while Macall Peed had 22 digs

TURNING POINTS
FIRST SET
>Back-to-back UCI blocks gave UCI a 6-3 lead
>The Anteaters would hold a 10-4 lad on a kill by Soana Leaea
>UCSB would battle back and tie the score at 18-18
>With the score tied at 21-21, UC Santa Barbara had a kill and an ace to break away, 23-21
>UCI wasn't done, scoring the final four points on a block by Leaea and Joy Umeh, a kill by Grace Colburn, a kill by Umeh and a final block by Umeh and Leaea, 25-23
>UCI out-blocked UCSB, 4-0

SECOND SET
>UCSB scored four in a row, including three consecutive blocks to take a 12-7 lead and force a UCI timeout
>UCI fought back with a kill by Leaea, an ace by Bertolone and a block by Umeh and Leaea, 10-12
>The Gauchos would score the next four to regain control, 16-10
>A 3-0 run by UCI which included three Gaucho errors, one on a block by Bertolone and Ofoegbu forced a UCSB timeout, 19-16
>UCSB held a 21-17 advantage before UCI went to work again, using a pair of kills by Umeh plus a Gaucho attack error to draw within 21-20
>A block by Ofoegbu and Umeh brought UCI to 23-22, but UCSB would score the final two points, the last an ace to win 25-22

THIRD SET
>UCI would hold a 10-7 lead only to watch UCSB go on a 7-1 run to take an 14-11 advantage
>Three consecutive Gaucho kills moved UCSB's lead to 18-14
>UCI would trail 22-16, but would begin to scrap and close to 23-19 on the strength of kills by Bertolone and Umeh
>With UCSB holding set point 24-20, UCI would catch fire, using three Gaucho attack errors and an ace by Caitlin Kikta to tie the set at 24-24
>Ofure Iselen recorded her first block at the perfect time, putting UCI up 29-28
>A kill by Kikta completed the comeback, 30-28
 
FOURTH SET
>The teams would remain close until UCSB would get a little separation 14-12
>UCSB would open a 18-13 lead but UCI would score three unanswered, all Gaucho errors, to get back in the set 18-16
>A kill by Colburn made it 22-20 then UCSB would end the set, out-scoring UCI 3-1 to win 25-21 on an ace by Macall Peed

FIFTH
>UCSB jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead and never looked back winning the set 15-9
>UCI would be as close as 9-7 on a Veargason kill, but UCSB out-scored UCI, 6-2 the rest of the way

NOTES
>Freshman middle blocker Soana Leaea recorded a career-high five block assists and tied her career-best with three kills
>Freshman middle blocker Ofure Iselen had a career-high four block assists in three sets
>Kikta returned to action after missing the last 13 matches
>UCI used 14 different players

UP NEXT
UCI entertains CSUN tomorrow (Oct. 30) at 5:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.