IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine women's volleyball team dropped a 3-1 (25-21, 25-6, 20-25, 25-20) decision to Cal Poly Friday evening at the Bren Events Center.
 
The Anteaters (16-13, 9-10 Big West) hit .115 for the match, while the Mustangs finished with a .233 clip.
 
Cal Poly also held the advantage in digs (81-77), total team blocks (11-7) and aces (7-1).
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UCI was led by Joy Umeh's match-high tying 15 kills
>Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu followed with 12 kills and six total blocks (3 solo, 3 assisted)
>Freshman Marianna Bertolone added seven kills and 12 digs
>Libero Bailey Darnell, the Big West Defensive Player of the Week, had a team-high 22 digs
>Cal Poly's Amy Hiatt finished with 15 kills
>The Mustangs' 11 blocks were the third most by an Anteater opponent this season 

FIRST SET
>Cal Poly (14-16, 12-7 Big West) scored the first three points and stayed out front until kills from Umeh and Bertolone tied it up at 7-7
>The Mustangs went back on top, 10-7, but the Anteaters responded with a 5-0 spurt to go up by two
>The 'Eaters kept the advantage and pulled ahead, 16-13, on a CP service error
>Cal Poly then scored four straight, including an ace by Layla Haberfield to move in front 17-16
>The Mustangs would finish strong, scoring the final three points to take the set, 25-21 

SECOND SET
>A 6-1 spurt by Cal Poly, which was capped by a block, forced a UCI timeout at 8-3
>A service error out of the timeout was followed by another five straight by the Mustangs to expand the margin to 13-4
>UCI would manage just two more points in the set as Cal Poly would win, 25-6
>Cal Poly hit .609 (14-0-23) to UCI's -.103 (5-8-29)    

THIRD SET
>A pair of kills, an ace and a block moved Cal Poly out to a 9-4 advantage
>UCI chipped away and used a kill by Soana Leaea, an ace by Kelly Negron and a block by Leaea and Umeh to close within 12-11
>UCI would keep the pressure on, scoring three in a row to take a 14-13 lead
>The teams would battle back-and-forth until UCI went on an 9-1 run behind the tough serving of Carly Moreno, 24-17
>The run was fueled by five Mustang errors, one on a solo block by Ofoegbu
>Cal Poly would delay the set with three points before Ofoegbu and Ellen Veargason ended the game with a block, 25-20 
 
FOURTH SET
>Two aces gave Cal Poly an early 4-1 lead
>A kill by Umeh and two by Ofoegbu tied the set at 4-4
>A UCI service error and back-to-back kills by Tommi Stockham put Cal Poly up 12-7
>UCI could not recover as the Mustangs went on to a 25-20 victory

NOTES
>Outside hitter Carly Moreno had a career-best nine digs
>Darnell has recorded digs in double figures in each of the last three matches, including 20 or more twice
>Ofoegbu's three solo blocks ties a season-high and is one shy of her career best 

UP NEXT
>UCI closes out the season tomorrow, hosting CSU Bakersfield at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center