IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine had a well-balanced attack to lead UC Irvine to a 3-0 victory (25-20, 25-20, 25-17) over Cal state Bakersfield at the Bren Events Center Friday evening.

Opposite Hunter Riedl led the way with 12 kills and three block assists, the sixth consecutive match she has led the Anteaters in kills.

The Anteaters go to 5-13 overall and 3-4 in the Big West.

HEAD COACH ASHLIE HAIN SAID:
"It was a good balanced effort. People came in off the bench and made us better. I was really happy to see multiple people contribute and step up when we needed them to. It was great teamwork and we made plays when we need to and controlled our errors so hopefully this is something we can build on."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Outside hitters Marianna Bertolone and Emma Napoleon each pitched in eight kills. With the eight, Napoleon ties her career-best.
>Setter Nicole Feliciano had her eighth double-double of the year with 29 set assists and 14 digs. She also added seven kills, hitting .467 (7-0-15)
>Middle blocker Isabella Scarlett recorded six kills and shared the team-lead in blocks with Ella Gardiner at three. Gardiner also totaled five kills in the win
>Libero Campbell Jensen had a match-high 15 digs
>Setter Indy De Smet tallied 14 digs, eight set assists and two aces
>UCI out-hit (.236-114) and out-dug CSUB 64-51. Both teams had five blocks
>The Anteaters had a 7-4 advantage in aces led by Amanda Leinbach's career-best three
>The Roadrunners (5-14, 1-6) were led by Naomi Chankoumi's eight kills

FIRST SET
>CSUB started with the first two points and jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead
>Seven of the Roadrunners first nine points were UCI errors, including two on blocks and an ace, 9-4
>The Anteaters rallied on a kill by Marianna Bertolone and a kill and block assist by Isabella Scarlett to close to 7-9
>The Roadrunners would lead 15-11 at the media timeout before UCI exploded for eight straight, started with a kill by Hunter Riedl and capped by an Indy De Smet ace, 19-15
>Back-to-back kills by Riedl gave UCI set point, 24-20
>Following a 'Runner timeout, Scarlett put a kill down in the middle for the winner, 25-20
>UCI held CSUB to a .032 hitting percentage

SECOND SET
>UCI used a kill by Ella Gardiner and two by Emma Napoleon to move in front 6-3
>CSUB would score the next four to slip ahead, 7-6
>Kills by Feliciano and Scarlett followed by consecutive blocks by Scarlett and Riedl put UCI up 14-10
>Roadrunner service and attack errors moved UCI's margin to 20-16
>Kills by Scarlett and Napoleon ended the set, 25-20

THIRD SET
>A CSUB service error plus two Napoleon kills gave UCI the 5-2 advantage
>After a Bertolone kill, Feliciano smashed one on second contact, 9-5
>CSUB peeled off seven in a row, including two aces to take a 13-12 lead
>Riedl crushed a ball just past the antenna before De Smet had an ace, 17-15
>With Leinbach behind the service line, UCI would score the last seven on a kill by Feliciano, two aces by Leinbach, two Roadrunner errors and two Bertolone kills, 25-17

NOTES
>With Leinbach's aces, 12 different Anteaters have recorded an ace in 2023
>Freshman Maia Niemen made her Bren Center debut and adding four digs
>Defensive specialist Lexi Gruszczynski was also solid on defense with seven digs

UP NEXT
UCI is back in action tomorrow against CSUN. First serve from the Bren Events Center is 4:00 p.m.