FULLERTON, Calif. – A trio of Anteaters posted double-figure kills, but UC Irvine was edged in five sets by California Baptist (25-20, 23-25, 25-14, 22-25, 10-15) in the opening match of the WAC/Big West Showdown at Titan Gym Friday afternoon.

Rightside hitter Hunter Riedl had a match and career-high 19 kills, hitting .485 (19-3-33). Outside hitter Marianna Bertolone totaled 14 kills, while Kendra MacDonald put away a career-best 11 kills to go with a season-high seven digs.

UCI had a season-high 12 aces, which is tied for fourth most by a team in the Big West this season. Libero Campbell Jensen fired a career-high five aces, which is tied for second most in the Big West this year. She also had a match-best 20 digs.

Setter Nicole Feliciano had a career-best three aces to go with a career-high nine kills and 10 digs, her fourth career double-double.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Junior Ofure Iselen had a career-best five total blocks (two solo)
>Middle blocker Isabella Scarlett totaled seven kills and two total blocks
>Setter Indy De Smet added 15 set assists and seven digs
>CBU had nine aces of their own and out-blocked UCI 10-8
>UCI topped CBU in digs, 68-57 and hitting percentage .236-.229
>California Baptist was led by Catherine Krieger's 16 kills
>UCI falls to 2-8 overall, while CBU goes to 6-4

FIRST SET
>A dump by Nicole Feliciano and a Lancer attack long helped UCI to the 2-0 start
>The Lancers answered with the next four, three on UCI miscues, 4-2
>Two kills by Hunter Riedl and an ace by Marianna Bertolone moved the Anteaters back in front 5-4
>Campbell Jensen fired two aces in a 4-0 UCI run that put the Anteaters up 9-7
>Riedl would pound a ball down the right side followed by soft kill by Bertolone, 16-14
>The teams remained within two points until UCI had two kills Kendra MacDonald and one from Isabella Scarlett and Feliciano to lead 21-17
>Scarlett and Bertolone rejected a CBU attempt, 23-19
>A kill by Scarlett and an ace by Becca Sakoda ended the set, 25-20
>Anteaters hit .478 (13-2-23)

SECOND SET
>Consecutive aces by Feliciano got UCI out to a 3-0 start
>Feliciano ripped a ball cross court, 8-5
>CBU would record consecutive blocks to draw to 9-8 until Bertolone and Ofure Iselen returned the favor, 10-8
>Feliciano stepped back for another ace, 11-8
>A pair of kills and an ace gave the Lancers the lead, 14-13
>UCI had kills by Riedl and Feliciano plus a CBU error to regain the lead, 16-14
>A pass from Emma Napoleon to Feliciano who dished to MacDonald for a kill was followed by a kill from Scarlett, forcing a CBU timeout, 22-20
>CBU answered with the next two and after a UCI timeout a Lancer serve went into the net, 23-22
>A kill and two UCI errors handed Cal Baptist the set, 25-23

THIRD SET
>CBU scored the first two points of the set on a UCI attack error and a kill, 2-0
>A CBU error and an ace from Jensen created some space, 7-4
>Two kills by Riedl and a Lancer error expanded the lead to 16-12
>After a CBU timeout, UCI continued to roll with the next four, including  a solo block by Scarlett and another ace from Jensen, 21-12
>UCI would score three of the final four to win the set 25-14

FOURTH SET
>California Baptist got out to a quick 5-1 lead
>Three consecutive UCI attack errors extended the Lancers advantage to 11-5
>The Anteaters tried to rally on two Bertolone kills and one by Riedl, 8-11
>Two more from Riedl made it 10-14 and a Emma Napoleon kill and CBU error closed the gap to 13-17
>Back-to-back blocks, both assisted by Iselen and an ace by Lexi Gruszcznski kept things interesting, 20-23
>Riedl would put down a kill then a solo block, 22-24
>A Lancer kill would force a fifth set, 25-22

FIFTH SET
>UCI fell behind early, 0-2 before MacDonald put the Anteaters on the board with a kill
>The Anteaters were hitting -.333 (1-3-6) and called timeout, 1-4
>CBU led 7-2 before the Anteaters had a kill by Bertolone, a Lancer attack error and another ace by Jensen to get back in the set, 5-7
>Kills by Bertolone and Scarlett closed to 8-9 but the Lancers would answer with the next three, 8-12
>California Baptist would go on to win the set 15-10

NOTES
>Six different Anteaters recorded an ace
>Outside hitter Emma Napoleon added her first two career kills and three digs
>Defensive specialist Lexi Gruszcznski recorded an ace and seven digs

UP NEXT
UCI will face Grand Canyon tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in Titan Gym.