IRVINE, Calif. – A trio of UC Irvine players recorded double-digit kills as the Anteaters opened the Big West schedule with a 3-0 win over CSUN (25-18, 26-24, 25-22) at the Bren Events Center Friday night.

The Anteaters improve to 8-3 overall, while CSUN is 5-8.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Junior Joy Umeh led all players with 14 kills
>Middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu had 12 kills, hitting .391 and a match-best six block assists
>Outside hitter Marianna Bertolone did not commit and error, hitting .611 (11-0-18). She also had seven digs and an ace
>Freshman libero Campbell Jensen had a match-best 16 digs, three set assists and two service aces
>Setter Kelly Negron recorded 26 set assists and six digs
>UCI out-hit the Matadors .265-257, holding a 6-2 ace advantage as well as a slight 9-8 advantage in blocks
>Nicole Nevarez led CSUN with nine kills

FIRST SET
>A pair of kills by Joy Umeh and one by Kiani Stanton helped UCI to a 3-1 lead
>Four consecutive kills, two by Onye Ofoegbu moved the advantage to 7-2
>A 7-2 spurt by the Matadors got them back in to the set, 11-9
>CSUN would catch UCI at 13-13 before Umeh had a pair of kills followed by an ace by Campbell Jensen to put the Anteaters in control again, 16-13
>Two kills by Marianna Bertolone and another by Ofoegbu gave UCI a 21-16 lead
>A Matador attack error ended the set, 25-18

SECOND SET
>A kill and an ace by Bertolone were part of four in a row by UCI to get the Anteaters to a 12-6 lead
>A block by Ofoegbu and Umeh extended the gap to 14-7 and forced a CSUN timeout
>CSUN would rally on a 5-1 run to close within 18-14
>UCI had set point 24-21 and again CSUN came alive scoring the next three to tie the set at 24-24
>A kill by Ofoegbu was followed by a block by Ofoegbu and Ellen Veargason ended the set 26-24

THIRD SET
>Three kills and a UCI attack error helped CSUN to a 13-8 lead
>Three consecutive kills by Stanton pulled the Anteaters to 11-13
>CSUN would lead 17-14 before the Anteaters scored four unanswered the last two blocks by Ofoegbu, one assisted by Veragason and one by Bailey Darnell, 18-17
>Following a CSUN point, UCI had a kill by Veargason, a block by Stanton and Darnell and an ace by Ofoegbu to extend the lead to 21-18
>Ofoegbu put away the match winner 25-22

NOTES
>It is the eighth 3-0 victory of the season
>Ofoegbu has recorded kills in double-figures in all but one match this season
>Junior Bailey Darnell came off the bench to add a kill, six digs and two block assists

UP NEXT
UCI will entertain UC Santa Barbara tomorrow (Sept. 24) at 5:00 p.m. at the Bren Center.