IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine closed out the home schedule with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-21) victory over Black & Blue rival Long Beach State.

It is the 15^th win all-time against The Beach and the second 3-0 sweep. The only other sweep came on Sept. 25, 1982 at a neutral site.

The Anteaters, who were 12-3 at the Bren Events Center this season, improved to 18-10 overall and 11-7 in the Big West.

UCI out-blocked LBSU, 9.5 to 5 and held a 4-1 advantage in aces. UCI out-hit Long Beach State .239-132.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UCI was led by Joy Umeh with 17 kills, hitting .424. She also added two block assists
>Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu had 11 kills and eight total blocks (1 solo, 7 assisted)
>Sophomore Marianna Bertolone added nine kills and seven digs
>Libero Campbell Jensen had a match-best 13 digs
>Setter Kelly Negron tallied 17 set assists, six digs and an ace
>UCI out-blocked LBSU, 9.5 to 5
>Morgan Chacon and Katie Kennedy each had 10 kills for The Beach (17-9, 12-6)

FIRST SET
>Long Beach State jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, two on UCI attack errors
>A 5-1 run by the Anteaters which included two kills by Joy Umeh and a block with Onye Ofoegbu moved UCI in front 5-4
>Two Marianna Bertolone kills and two blocks, both assisted by Ofoegbu highlighted a 6-0 Anteater run, 12-7
>The Beach would close to 18-17 before UCI had a kill by Bertolone and a LBSU attack error to force a timeout, 20-17
>A block by Umeh and Kiani Stanton was followed by two kills by Umeh for set point, 24-18
>A LBSU attack sailed wide giving UCI the 25-18 victory
>The Anteater block was key, rejecting four Beach attacks

SECOND SET
>Ofoegbu took over with two kills and two block assists to give UCI an 8-5 lead
>Three kills, a block and a UCI attack error would move LBSU to a 13-12 lead
>Two LBSU attack errors and a kill by Umeh helped UCI regain the lead, 17-15
>The Beach would tie the set at 19-19 before UCI answered with the next four including an ace by Sofia Skukan, 23-19
>Bertolone would hammer the set-winner, 25-21

THIRD SET
> Four Umeh kills, a solo block by Ofoegbu and a Beach attack error put the Anteaters up 7-2
>A 5-0 spurt, which included an Indy DeSmet ace, broke open the set, 20-15
>Another ace this one by Ofoegbu, plus a Bertolone kills set up match point 24-19
>After two LBSU points, Bertolone finished it off with a kill, 25-21

NOTES
>UCI honored Carrissa MacDonald, Bailey Darnell, Kelly Negron, Onye Ofoegbu, Sofia Skukan and Joy Umeh after the match
>It is the 10^th win at home all-time against LBSU

UP NEXT
UCI will end the regular season on the road, traveling to Cal Poly Friday (Nov. 26) and CSU Bakersfield Saturday (Nov. 27)