IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine opened up The Big West schedule with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-18) victory over UC Riverside at the Bren Events Center Friday.

UCI was led by outside hitter Marianna Bertolone with 11 kills, hitting .391. The junior also added eight digs.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Middle blocker Isabella Scarlett, a 2023 graduate of UC Riverside, had six kills and a team-high three block assists. The UCI grad student also had her first ace of the season
>Rightside hitter Hunter Riedl put away eight kills
>Libero Campbell Jensen totaled a match-high 20 digs
>Setter Indy DeSmet recorded 15 set assists and three digs
>Delaney Tate tipped the Highlanders with eight kills

FIRST SET
>UCR made the first move on a UCI ball handling error and two kills, 9-7
>A block by Kendra MacDonald and Isabella Scarlett tied the set at 10-10 before two more Highlander attack errors gave UCI the lead, 12-10
>Three straight, a kill by Marianna Bertolone, an ace by Scarlett and a UCR attack error extended the lead to 17-12
>Consecutive kills by UCR's Mylei Vargas-Deason and a UCI attack error tied the set at 22s
>UCI responded with a kill by Scarlett and a Highlander attack error, 24-22
>Following a UCR timeout, an Anteater dig fell on the Riverside side surrounded by a team of Highlanders, 25-22
>Scarlett hit .800 from the middle (4-0-5)

SECOND SET
>Nicole Feliciano started the set with an ace then UCI peeled off five more, three courtesy of Highlander errors to start 6-0
>UCR would go on a 4-1 run (11-6) before Feliciano pounded a pair of kills, 13-6
>A run of six straight, which included two Bertolone kills gave the Anteaters an 18-7 lead
>A 4-0 spurt by UCR was ended by a kill from Emma Napoleon, 24-15
>UCI would win the set, 25-15 on a Highlander attack error

THIRD SET
> A kill by Bertolone was followed by a dig for a kill by Campbell Jensen to give UCI a 9-7 advantage
>Four consecutive UC Riverside errors and a kill by Riedl helped the Anteaters to a 19-14 lead
>UCI would record the final three points, two kills by Scarlett followed by an Amanda Leinbach kill from the back row, 25-18

NOTES
>It is UCI's third consecutive opening Big West win
>UCI had a 4-3 advantage in blocks, the first time the Anteaters have out-blocked an opponent
>Jensen has 15 career games with 20 or more digs

UP NEXT
UCI will host UC Davis tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.