Box Score IRVINE, Calif. – Joy Umeh led the UC Irvine offense in a 3-0 win (25-22, 25-9, 25-21) against UC Riverside at the Bren Events Center Friday night.

The Anteaters hit .302 (49-14-116) as a team led by Umeh's 17 kills and .452 (17-3-31) performance. The junior also added two block assists.

UCI improved to 11-1 at home and 15-8 overall and 8-5 in the Big West.

The Highlanders, who hit .117 (28-15-111), fell to 4-18 on the year and 2-11 in The Big West.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu hit .611, recording 12 kills on 18 attempts with just one error.
>Freshman Kendra MacDonald totaled seven kills and 12 digs followed by sophomore Marianna Bertolone with six kills
>Libero Campbell Jensen led all players with 14 digs
>Setters Kelly Negron and Indy DeSmet tallied 20 and 19 set assists, respectively
>Isabella Scarlett topped the Highlanders with 10 kills
>Each team had three blocks
>UCI out-dug UCR 58-45. All but one Anteater recorded at least one dig

FIRST SET
>UCI used a 4-1 run that included two kills by Onye Ofoegbu to move out to an 8-5 lead
>A pair of kills and ace by the Highlanders drew UCR within 11-10
>Back-to-back UCR kills would knot the score at 15-15
>Two Highlander errors gave UCI the 19-17 advantage
>Kills by Marianna Bertolone and Kiani Stanton brought UCI to set point
>A UCR kill delayed the set winner which was put away by Bertolone, 25-22
>UCI hit .390 (19-3-41)

SECOND SET
>UCI scored eight unanswered, including four kills by Joy Umeh and two by Kendra MacDonald, 9-2
>Kills by Ofoegbu and K. MacDonald plus two UCR attack errors stretched the gap to 13-5
>A kill by Keelan Williams and a block by Umeh and Stanton started a 5-0 spurt by UCI, 21-8
>The only thing that slowed down the Anteaters on the way to a 25-9 victory was a service error
>Set 2 was all Anteaters, hitting .542 (15-2-24) to UCR's -.171 (3-9-35)

THIRD SET
>An ace by Kelly Negron helped the Anteaters to a 3-0 lead
>A five point streak, two on Umeh kills and three on Highlander errors moved UCI out to an 8-1 advantage
>Ofoegbu would have a kill then step back to the service line and fire two aces, 15-5
>UC Riverside wouldn't go away scoring four straight to creep to 20-14
>A Highlander service error put UCI at match point, but UCR rallied again on three Anteater errors and a kill, 24-21
>Williams would end the set with a kill, 25-21

NOTES
>It's the sixth time this season UCI has hit .300 or better
>UCI is second in the Big West in blocking but registered a season-low three tonight

UP NEXT
UCI will be back in action tomorrow (Nov. 5) for a 5:00 p.m. showdown with UC Davis