FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine at Long Beach State
Friday, Oct. 18 | 7:00 PM | Walter Pyramid
Live Stats   Watch 

UC Irvine at UC San Diego
Saturday, Oct. 19 | 6:00 PM | LionTree Arena
Live Stats   Watch

FIRST SERVE After four home matches, UC Irvine returns to the road traveling up the 405 to Long Beach State Friday (Oct. 18) for a 7:00 p.m. match at the Walter Pyramid then down the 405 to UC San Diego Saturday (Oct. 19) for a 6:00 p.m. match at LionTree Arena.

STORYLINES
UCI is 10-7 overall and 4-2 in the Big West.

UC Irvine is 4-1 on the road this season.

Last week, the Anteaters went 1-1, losing to Cal Poly (0-3) and beating UCSB 3-1. In the win over the Gauchos, UCI went on an 8-1 run to win the third set and 7-0 spurt to win the fourth.

The Anteaters totaled 86 digs against UCSB, which is tied for the team-best in 2024 and is the most by a Big West team in four sets this year. Setter Nicole Feliciano and libero Campbell Jensen topped the team with 20 digs apiece.

Long Beach State is 11-5 overall and is tied for the top of the Big West standings with a 5-1 record.

Their lone league loss was to Hawaii at home.

Last week, The Beach beat CSUN (3-0) and Cal State Bakersfield (3-1) on the road.

Long Beach State's Kameron Bacon was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week, while Madi Maxwell is the reigning Freshman of the of the Week.

LBSU and UCI are the top two Big West teams in opponents' hitting percentage at .162 and .174, respectively.

The Anteaters lead the Big West and are ranked 19th in the country averaging 2.72 blocks per set. LBSU is second in the conference at 2.37.

The Anteaters are eighth nationally in total blocks (190.5).

UCSD, who enters the week 9-8 on the year and 3-3 in the Big West, will entertain Cal State Fullerton Friday before hosting the Anteaters.

The Tritons beat both CSUB and CSUN by a score of 3-1 last week.

Ava McInnis leads UC San Diego with a 3.06 kill average which is ninth in the Big West. She had a Big West-best six aces against James Madison.
 
ISELEN IMPRESSIVE AGAIN AT THE NET
Middle blocker Ofure Iselen continued her dominance at the net with nine total blocks versus UCSB (1 solo, eight assisted). Her nine total blocks are tied for third most in a four-set match in the Big West and seventh most over-all. Eight block assists tied her career-high, which she has done three times this season.

The senior has totaled 31 blocks over the last four matches at 2.21 blocks per set.

For the season, Iselen is averaging 1.58 blocks over 33 sets.

FELICIANO FILLS THE BOXSCORE
Sophomore Nicole Feliciano has 10 double-doubles in 2024, including in six of the last seven matches.

She is fifth in set assist average (8.59) and 10th in digs (3.19) among Big West players.

The setter has racked up 20 or more digs four times this season.

SMITH SERVES 'EM UP
Outside hitter Katie Smith is second in the Big West in ace average with a 0.43 mark.

She fired three aces against the Gauchos and has rec-orded at least one ace in six of the last seven matches.

Smith led the team in kills versus UCSB with 17 and is second on the team in kills with a 2.79 average overall, which is 16th among Big West players. She is also aver-aging 2.03 digs.

RIEDL LEADS OFFENSE
Graduate student Hunter Riedl led UCI with 11 kills ver-sus Cal Poly then added 12 against UC Santa Barbara.

She tops the squad with a 3.00 kill average, which is 11th in the Big West. The opposite also averages 1.20 digs and 0.77 blocks per set.

JENSEN ANCHORS BACK LINE
Libero Campbell Jensen has totaled digs in double-figures in all but one match this season, including 20 or more three times.

The junior is seventh in the Big West with a 3.65 dig average.