IRVINE, Calif. – Outside hitter Emma Napoleon had a career night to lead UC Irvine to a 3-0 victory CSUN (25-23, 25-23, 25-16) at the Bren Events Center Saturday afternoon.

Napoleon made the most of her first career start, pounding a career-best 13 kills to lead the Anteaters. She also posted a career-best three block assists and a dig.

Middle blocker Isabella Scarlett was also impressive, hitting .727 on nine kills in 11 swings without an error. The grad student had two block assists in the win.

UCI sweeps the weekend and evens its Big West record to 4-4 and goes to 6-13 overall. CSUN falls to 4-15 on the year and 2-6 in league action.

HEAD COACH ASHLIE HAIN SAID:
"It's great to have Emma on the floor. She has been rehabbing for two years and to see her come out and play the way she is playing I'm so proud of her and all the work she has put in. It's a real inspirational story and it's a great example of what hard work can do."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Middle blocker Ella Gardiner and opposite Hunter Riedl each recorded six kills. Gardiner hit .417 (6-1-12) and career-high seven block assists, while Riedl also had a career-best at the net with five block assists
>Libero Campbell Jensen had a match-high 16 digs plus an ace
>Outside hitter Marianna Bertolone added five kills and seven digs
>UCI out-hit the Matadors .250-.132 and held a 43-36 dig advantage. Each team recorded nine blocks
>CSUN was led by Perri Starkey's 12 kills

FIRST SET
>UCI had three straight, including kills by Isabella Scarlett and Marianna Bertolone plus a Matador attack error to take an 8-7 lead
>Two kills by Emma Napoleon, a block by Nicole Feliciano and Ella Gardiner and an ace by Indy De Smet extended the lead to 14-10
>Consecutive kills by Scarlett, Bertolone and Hunter Riedl gave the Anteaters a 20-15 lead
>Following a CSUN timeout, the Matadors rattled off four in a row to close within 22-21 forcing a timeout by UCI
>CSUN would tie it with an Anteater attack error on the next play, 22 all
>UCI answered with kills by Napoleon and Gardiner, 24-22
>A Matador kill delayed the set-winner from Gardiner off the slide, 25-23

SECOND SET
>UCI led 7-4 until CSUN took over with three blocks and two aces, 12-9
>A block by Riedl and Gardiner was followed by a kill from Napoleon to help UCI close within one (13-14), but the Matadors answered with the next three, 17-13
>With Gruszczynski serving tough, UCI scored five in a row, one an ace, to move in front 18-17
>Tied at 19-19, the Anteaters recorded a kill by Bertolone, a block by Riedl and Scarlett and two CSUN attack errors to open a 23-19 advantage
>The Matadors wouldn't go away, drawing to 24-23. After a UCI timeout, Scarlett dribbled one off the block to end the set, 25-23

THIRD SET
>CSUN came out hot scoring the first four points and taking a 7-1 lead
>With CSUN leading 10-5, UCI exploded on an 11-1 run, which included eight in a row, two on blocks and two on De Smet aces, 16-11
>The Anteaters would end up out-scoring CSUN 10-5 to end the match, capped appropriately on a Napoleon kill, 25-16

NOTES
>De Smet led all players with three aces and now has 13 on the season
>Jensen had had digs in double-digits 16 times in 2023

UP NEXT
UCI will host Black & Blue rivals Long Beach State Thursday (Oct. 19) at 7:00 p.m at the Bren Center. It is the lone regular season meeting between the two teams.