IRVINE, Calif. – Down 2 sets to 1, UC Irvine had eight blocks in the fourth set to stay alive and go on to win 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 15-13) at Crawford Hall Friday evening.

The Anteaters had a season and Big West-best 20 blocks led by Ofure Iselen (4 solo, 6 assisted) and Ella Gardiner's (2 solo, 8 assisted) career-highs in total blocks. 10 total blocks are tied for third most in the Big West in 2024. Gardiner also recorded nine kills in the win.
 
Kendra Duffey and Katie Smith led the Anteater offense with 18 kills each, a career-high for Duffey. Smith also added 10 digs, four block assists and three aces, while Duffey totaled a career-high eight digs and four block assists.
 
Setter Nicole Feliciano tied her career-high with 48 set assists and posted a career-best 25 digs, which are tied for sixth most in the Big West this season. She added to the block count with four block assists.

UCI's winning streak extends to four as the Anteaters go to 9-5 overall and 3-0 in the Big West. CSUN is 5-9 on the year and 0-3 in league play.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Libero Campbell Jensen tallied 18 digs and an ace  
>Emma Napoleon was solid off the bench again with six kills, two digs and two block assists
>UCI out-hit (,177-.171), blocked (20-15) and dug the Matadors (81-72). CSUN held a 6-5 advantage in aces
>CSUN's Leah Miller and Hailey Brockway each had a match-best 19 kills
 
 FIRST SET
>Ella Gardiner punched the ball over then had a block with Kendra Duffey and Duffey capped the 3-0 run with a kill, 6-3
>Another kill by Gardiner and another block, this time on the rightside with Nicole Feliciano, upped the advantage to 8-4
>CSUN exploded on an 12-2 run to gain control 17-12
>UCI made its move on an 8-1 run of their own, using a Riedl kill and ace and a pair of Duffey kills and a block by Gardiner and Feliciano, kill by Katie Smith and a solo block by Gardiner, 20-18
>CSUN would close out the set on a 7-1 run to win 25-21
>UCI out-blocked CSUN 5-3, but the Matadors out-hit the Anteaters .263-.133
 
SECOND SET
>Three kills by Duffey and two CSUN attack errors put UCI in front 7-2
>Four straight on the strength of kills by Gardiner, Duffey and Smith extended the lead 11-4
>A Smith ace gave the Anteaters a 16-10 advantage
>A 7-2 spurt by CSUN, three on UCI attack errors, closed the gap to 20-18
>Following an Anteater timeout, UCI took advantage of three straight Matador miscues to stop the momentum, 23-18
>Smith would end the set with a kill, 25-20

THIRD SET
>Gardiner would get up high for a kill, 3-1
>CSUN would quickly knot the score at 4 all
>A kill and block assist by Ofure Iselen capped a 4-0 run to get the Anteaters to an 8-4 lead
>CSUN had four of their own to close to 9-10
>A kill by Iselen, a Matador attack error and an ace by Smith gave some separation 13-9
>UCI would lead 18-14 before the Matadors went on a 9-2 run late to move in front 22-20
>Back-to-back blocks tied it at 22-22 before CSUN had a kill and a block for set point 24-22
>A CSUN service error was followed by a Gardiner kill off the slide to keep the set going 24-24
>A UCI attack error and a ball-handling error gave CSUN the set 26-24
 
FOURTH SET
>Two kills by Emma Napoleon and an ace by Campbell Jensen made it 5-3 then consecutive kills by Napoleon and Gardiner pushed it to 7-4
>Two UCI errors and a Matador ace knotted the score at 7s
>A kill by Smith was followed by a solo block by Iselen and another by Iselen and Smith and a kill by Smith out of the back row, 13-10
>More domination at the net came from Napoleon and Iselen and Smith and Iselen, 16-10
>Another block, this time Gardiner and Duffey, increased the margin to 18-12
>Napoleon had the final kill, 25-18
>UCI had eight blocks in the set

FIFTH SET
>UCI jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead on a solo block and block assist by Iselen
>Consecutive kills by Napoleon and Gardiner made the advantage 6-3
>CSUN would record two kills and two UCI attack errors to move in front 7-6
>An ace by the Matadors increased the lead to 9-7
>CSUN led 12-10 before Smith pounded a cross court kill then stepped back to the service line and fired an ace to tie it at 12s
>Duffey would slam down a kill then poke over another, 14-12
>Following a Matador kill, Duffey ended the match with a kill, 15-13

NOTES
>UCI has won the last seven meetings with the Matadors
>Feliciano has seven double-doubles this year
 
UP NEXT
UCI continues its homestand entertaining Cal State Bakersfield at 4:00 p.m. at Crawford Hall Saturday (Oct. 5).