IRVINE, Calif. – A balanced offensive attack combined with a tenacious defensive effort helped UC Irvine take down Cal State Fullerton 3-2 (25-18, 19-25, 25-16, 23-25, 15-11) at the Bren Events Center Friday.

UCI was led by junior Joy Umeh with 17 kills followed by junior Onye Ofoegbu with 15 kills and five block assists.

Outside hitters Marianna Bertolone and Emma Spindt were important late, with Bertolone putting away a team-best four kills in the fifth set and Spindt ending the match with the final two kills. Bertolone recorded her fourth double-double of the year, recording 12 kills and tying her career-high with 15 digs. She also had two aces and two blocks. Spindt was one shy of her career-high, tallying 12 kills to go with nine digs, which ties her season-high.

While UCI spread the offense, the defense was just as good with Campbell Jensen posting a career-high 29 digs, which is tied for third most in the Big West this season. Setter Indy DeSmet popped up  a career-high 20 digs, while setter Kelly Negron had her sixth double-double of the year totaling 30 set assists and 12 digs.

UCI had 100 digs and Cal State Fullerton had 95, the top two marks in the Big West this season.

Opposite Ellen Veargason had a team-best six total blocks (1 solo, five assisted) as the Anteaters out-blocked the Titans 11-9.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UCI improved to 11-6 overall and 4-3 in the Big West. The Titans go to 9-6 and 3-4 in league play
>The Anteaters out-hit CSF .211 to .141
>Middle blocker Kiani Stanton had six kills and four total blocks
>Each team had four aces
>Danielle Jefferies had a match-high 20 kills for Cal State Fullerton. Nadia Koanui and Elizabeth Schuster each had 22 digs

FIRST SET
>Two Onye Ofoegbu kills and two Titan errors helped UCI to a 5-2 lead
>The Anteaters would extend the lead to 7-3 before Cal State Fullerton went on a 4-1 run to close to 8-7
>A kill by Marianna Bertolone stopped the momentum and kept UCI on top, 9-7
>A kill by Ellen Veargason and a CSF attack error moved UCI's lead to 18-14
>A Titan attack error was followed by a kill by Emma Spindt and an ace by Bertolone to extend the margin to 21-15
>Ofeogbu would put away her eighth kill of the set to win 25-18

SECOND SET
>Cal State Fullerton would jump out to the early 6-2 lead
>UCI scored four in a row on a pair of kills by Spindt, an ace by Indy DeSmet and a Titan attack error to tie it at 7 all
>CSF used two kills and two UCI errors to move out to a 18-14 lead
>The Titans had three blocks in the set as the went on to win, 25-19 on an ace

THIRD SET
>A kill by Spindt and back-to-back CSF attack errors propelled UCI to a 6-3 lead
>A 5-0 run by the Anteaters featured kills by Stanton, Umeh and Spindt and two blocks by Stanton, one solo, one assisted, 12-6
>UCI remained in control the entire set and Umeh ended the frame with a kill, 25-16

FOURTH SET
>A Titan service error and a kill by Bertolone put UCI up 17-14, only to watch CSF answer with the next three, 17-17
>Cal State Fullerton pulled away on four unanswered, the last three UCI errors, two on blocks, 23-19
>The Titans held set point 24-20, but watched UCI battle back to 24-23 behind the tough serving of DeSmet until a kill by Bianca Martinez ended the set for CSF, 25-23

FIFTH SET
>A kill by Stanton was followed by two CSF attack errors, 3-1
>Another kill by Stanton and a block by Stanton and Spindt extended the gap to 8-5
>The Titans would close to 8-7 before a Umeh kill, 9-7
>Back-to-back kills by Bertolone moved UCI out to a 12-9 advantage
>Spindt would end the set and match with a pair of kills, 15-11

NOTES
>Jensen has recorded digs in double-figures 12 times, including 20 or more six times
>UCI is 2-3 in five set matches

UP NEXT
UCI heads north on the 405 to Long Beach State for a 7:00 p.m. Black & Blue tilt at the Walter Pyramid.