IRVINE, Calif. – A season-high 12 aces propelled the UC Irvine women's volleyball team to a 3-0 victory over CSU Bakersfield (25-16, 25-23, 25-11) Saturday in the 2021 regular-season finale at the Bren Events Center.
 
Outside hitter Carly Moreno led all players with five aces, followed by libero Bailey Darnell with three, which were career highs for both. The Anteaters' 12 aces are tied for fourth most this season by a Big West school overall, and tied for the most in a three-set match.
 
The 'Eaters hit .391 for the match (42-8-87), their second-best hitting performance of the year. UCI also outblocked CSUB, 6.5 to 2.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Sophomore Joy Umeh paced UC Irvine with 14 kills, hitting a season-high .571 (14-2-21)
>Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu added 11 kills and five block assists
>Ofoegbu hit .588 (11-1-17), committing just one error in 17 attempts
>Darnell had a team-high 10 digs, recording double-digits for the fourth consecutive match
>Moreno registered six kills, seven digs and three blocks assists to go with her five aces
>Brooke Boiseau was the lone Roadrunner in double-figure kills with 10 

FIRST SET
>CSU Bakersfield made the first push, going up 9-5
>UC Irvine then scored three unanswered with back-to-back aces from Kelly Negron closing the gap to one
>The Roadrunners pulled back ahead by three before the Anteaters tied it up at 13-13
>Behind the serving of Moreno, the 'Eaters took off with a 9-0 rally putting them in control, 22-14
>Moreno was at the service line for the entire run and had four of her aces during that stretch
>CSUB finally got back on the board, but UCI sided out the rest of the way and Umeh ended the set with a kill, 25-16 
 
SECOND SET
>An ace put the Roadrunners up 6-3
>CSUB scored four in a row to lead, but UCI answered
>A kill by Ofoegbu was followed by five-straight Roadrunner attack errors, one on a block by Ofoegbu and Moreno to move UCI in front, 12-9
>Following a CSUB timeout, Umeh added two kills and Ofoegbu put one down on an overpass, 15-9
>A 7-1 CSUB spurt closed the lead to 18-17 forcing an Anteater timeout
>A block by Moreno and Soana Leaea was followed by a kill from Leaea and an ace by Moreno to stop the momentum and increase the Anteater lead to 21-17
>The Roadrunners were not done, out-scoring UCI 5-1 to close within 24-23, but Umeh would once again put down the set winner, 25-23 
 
THIRD SET
>Three Roadrunner attack errors, two aces by Darnell, two blocks and two kills by Umeh helped UCI jump out to a quick 9-0 lead
>The Anteaters kept their foot on the gas, cruising to a 25-9 victory   
>UCI hit .500 (12-2-20) in the frame, while CSUB finished the set at .000 (8-8-27)

NOTES
>UC Irvine finished the regular season with a 17-13 overall record
>The 17 wins were the most by an Anteater squad since 2017
>Moreno's five aces are tied for 11th most in a match at UCI and match Carly Richter's five aces recorded earlier this season against CSUB
>UCI honored seniors Carly Moreno, Sophie Wood and Kiani Stanton following the match