FAIRFIELD, Conn. – UC Irvine dominated in every category in a 3-0 victory (25-12, 25-17, 25-18) over host Sacred Heart at the William Pitt Center.

After a season-low in hitting and blocking yesterday at the Sacred Heart Invitational, UCI could not be stopped, hitting .370 (47-13-92) with a season-high 11 blocks.

UCI improved to 5-3 on the strength of a season-high eight service aces. SHU goes to 3-4 on the year.

Sophomore middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu put on a show, hitting .786 (12-1-14) with two blocks and three aces.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Sophomore Joy Umeh and freshman Marianna Bertolone followed Ofoegbu with nine kills apiece. Bertolone had a team-high eight digs, while Umeh added three blocks
>Redshirt sophomore Kiani Stanton was once again potent in the middle, hitting .778 with seven kills, no errors on nine attempts. She posted a career-high five block assists
>Setter Kelly Negron had 19 set assists and seven digs, while setter Indy DeSmet recorded a career-high 17 set assists and five digs
>UCI, who leads the conference in opponents hitting percentage, held the Pioneers to a .111 mark (26-17-81)
>Sarah Ciszek had a team-high six kills, 17 set assists and eight digs for SHU

TURNING POINTS
FIRST SET
>UCI led 13-8 before breaking the set open with a 9-2 run that included two blocks by Joy Umeh, 22-10
>A kill by Onye Ofoegbu and two SHU errors ended the set 25-12
>UCI hit .417 (13-3-24), while the Pioneers hit -.111 (6-9-27)

SECOND SET
>UCI trailed 8-4 then battled back to take a 13-12 lead. Stanton had a block and a kill in the run
>Back-to-back aces by Grace Colburn moved the gap to 16-13
>A kill and ace by Marianna Bertolone, plus kills by Kiani Stanton and Umeh helped the Anteaters to a 23-16 advantage
>Carly Richter fired an ace for the set, 25-17

THIRD SET
>A pair of kills by Umeh and Colburn plus a kill and two block assists by Ofoegbu got UCI out to a 7-0 lead
>Three aces by Ofoegbu and a kill and solo block by Ellen Vearguson increased the lead to 15-5
>Sacred Heart made a late charge with a 4-2 run to close to 23-18, but kills by Colburn and Umeh would end the set 25-18

NOTES
>Opposite Ellen Vearguson helped the block party with four total blocks (2 solo)
>Outside hitter Grace Colburn continues to lead the Anteaters in aces with seven overall after adding two against the Pioneers
>Libero Carly Richter has fired an ace in all five matches she has played in

UP NEXT
In a quick turnaround, UCI will face Lafayette at 1:00 p.m. PT to close out the tournament