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UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara
Friday, Nov. 15 | 7:00 PM | Thunderdome
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UC Irvine at Cal Poly
Saturday, Nov. 16 | 6:00 PM | Mott Athletics Center
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FIRST SERVE
UC Irvine will take it's final regular season road trip to UC Santa Barbara Friday (Nov. 15) at 7:00 p.m. at the Thunderdome then to Cal Poly Saturday (Nov. 16) for a 6:00 p.m. match at the Mott Athletics Center.

STORYLINES
UC Irvine is 14-11 overall and is tied with UC Santa Barbara for sixth in the Big West standings at 8-6.

The Gauchos are 12-14 overall, while Cal Poly is 17-8 overall.

The Mustangs are tied at the top of the standings with Hawaii, UC Davis and UC San Diego with a 10-4 mark.

The top six teams advance to The Big West Championship at the Bren Events Center Nov. 27, 29-30.

The Anteaters dropped a pair of matches last week at home, falling to UC San Diego (3-1) and Long Beach State (3-1).

After hitting a season-high .425 versus CSUN, UCI hit .176 (99-46-300) over two matches last week.

UC Irvine leads the Big West in blocks with a 2.56 mark, while Cal Poly tops the conference in hitting percentage at a .248 clip and is second in kills (13.04) followed by UC Santa Barbara (13.01).

The Anteaters are second in digs with a 14.73 per set average.

Individually, Ofure Iselen is second in the Big West in blocking (1.26), while Ella Gardiner is fourth (1.03) and Soana Leaea is fifth (1.00).

Cal Poly middle blocker Chloe Leluge was named Big West Freshman of the Week after hitting .696 on 23 attacks and just one error in matches against CSUB and CSUN. She leads the Big West in hitting efficiency at .365.

UCI defensive specialist Maia Niemen is the sister of former Cal Poly all-conference first-teamer Savannah Niemen (2014-17). Maia had a career-high 14 digs versus Long Beach State last week.

UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly both enter the week on a two-match winning streak, each taking down CSU Bakersfield and CSUN last week.

VERSUS THE GAUCHOS
In the first meeting with the Gauchos, UC Irvine came from behind in the final two sets, including scoring the last seven points in the fourth set to clinch a 3-1 victory at the Bren Center.
 
After trailing 17-22, UCI won the third set on an 8-1 run on the strength of three kills by Katie Smith. Smith ended the night with a match-best 17 kills to go with three aces, 10 digs and four block assists.

UCI recorded 86 digs with setter Nicole Feliciano and libero Campbell Jensen topping the team with 20 digs apiece.  

After not recording a block in the first set, UCI went on to record 14 for the match led by middle blocker Ofure Iselen's nine total blocks which is tied for third most in a four-set match in the Big West and eighth most overall. She logged eight block assists, which ties her career-high.

UCSB was led by Sophie Reavis' 12 kills, 17 digs and five total blocks.

Neither team was good offensively with UCI out-hitting the Gauchos .169-.098.

VERSUS THE MUSTANGS
Cal Poly took the first meeting of the year in straight sets.

The Mustangs out-hit the Anteaters .254-.156.

UCI, the best blocking team in the Big West, did not record a block until the third set and were out-blocked 11-4 for the match. Four blocks are a season-low for the Anteaters.

Opposite Hunter Riedl paced the Anteaters with 11 kills, eight digs and two aces, while Breklyn Pullings hit .625 (11-1-16) and had seven block assists for Cal Poly.

JENSEN JOINS DIG ELITE
Following the weekend's action, libero Campbell Jensen has moved into ninth in UCI career-digs with 1.069.

Jensen recorded double-digit digs 23 times this season, including scooping 32 at UC San Diego which is tied for second most in the conference.

SMITH LEADS
Graduate student Katie Smith leads the Anteaters in kills (2.83) and aces (0.39). Smith is second among Big West players in aces and 14^th in kills.

She recorded a career-best 20 kills versus Portland and four aces on three occasions.