HONOLULU, Hawaii – UC Irvine did not back down in a three-set loss to Hawaii (19-25, 23-25, 20-25) on Saturday at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

UCI out-blocked Hawaii 5-3.5 and was led by setter Nicole Feliciano's career-high four block assists.

Opposite Hunter Riedl and outside hitter Marianna Bertolone each had eight kills to lead the Anteaters.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Feliciano also had 22 set assists, three kills and eight digs
>Middle blocker Ella Gardiner totaled six kills and three blocks
>Libero Campbell Jensen recorded a match-high 14 digs to go with five set assists
>Freshman Maia Niemen had a career-high six digs in her second career appearance
>Hawaii's Amber Igiede led all players with 11 kills
>UH out-hit UCI .217-.172 and out-dug the Anteaters 64-50

FIRST SET
>The first three points of the set went to Hawaii
>Another three in a row extended UH's lead to 6-2
>UCI chipped away and would close to 8-9 on kills by Ella Gardiner, Isabella Scarlett and an ace by Becca Sakoda
>A kill by Hunter Riedl made it 10-11, but the Rainbow Wahine had three consecutive kills by Amber Igiede and a joust won by Kate Lang to get to the media timeout, 15-10
>Hawaii would score two more after the break, 17-10
>The Anteaters would come alive with four in a row, one a kill by Gardiner and three on Hawaii attack errors, 16-19
>After a UCI service error, the Anteaters used a kill by Gardiner, a block by Ofure Iselen and Nicole Feliciano and another Rainbow attack error to creep to 19-20
>Hawaii would answer with the final five points of the set, the last an ace, 25-19

SECOND SET
>UCI would lead 4-3 on a Marianna Bertolone kill
>Hawaii would lead 6-8 before Emma Napoleon had a kill followed by a Hawaii bad set, 8-8
>A kill by Iselen and an ace by Napoleon narrowed the deficit to 16-17
>After an Anteater service error, UCI tied the set at 18-18 on kills by Gardiner and Riedl
>The Rainbow Wahine would answer with the next four points, three kills and an ace to take control, 22-18
>UH would hold set point, 24-19, but UCI kept fighting with a kill by Bertolone, a Hawaii attack error, a kill by Napoleon and a block by Feliciano and Gardiner, 23-24
>A kill by Igiede would end the set, 25-23

THIRD SET
>Great defense by Campbell Jensen, Napoleon and Feliciano led to a Riedl kill, 4-3
>A kill by Feliciano and two Hawaii attack errors gave the Anteaters an 8-6 lead
>Hawaii would peel off the next four to move ahead 10-8
>A 3-0 spurt would increase the Hawaii lead to 13-9
>Reidl slid over for a huge solo block then after a UH kill, she put away a kill and Napoleon recorded another off the block to force a Hawaii timeout, 15-16
>After the break, a kill by Bertolone tied the set at 16-16
>The Rainbow Wahine would score three of the next four on Anteater errors, 19-17
>Isabella Scarlett would record a kill before Hawaii ended the match with the final three points, 25-20

NOTES
>Hawaiian raised Emma Napoleon added four kills, an ace and three digs, while Becca Sakoda had an ace and a dig
>UCI goes to 4-13 overall and 2-4 in the Big West, while Hawaii is 12-5 on the year and 5-1 in league play

UP NEXT
After playing the last four matches on the road, UCI returns to the Bren Events Center to host CSU Bakersfield Friday (Oct. 13) at 6:00 p.m.