IRVINE, Calif. – Outside hitters
Katie Smith and
Kendra MacDonald led UC Irvine to a 3-0 sweep of Cal State Fullerton (25-14, 25-11, 25-9) at the Bren Events Center Thursday evening.
Smith put away a team-best 15 kills and three aces to go with nine digs and two block assists, while MacDonald totaled 13 kills on 29 swings with just one error (.414).
The Anteaters hit .327 (43-9-104) and held the Titans to a .068 (27-20-103). UCI's .327 mark is the second best this season.
INSIDE NUMBERS
>Outside hitter
Hunter Riedl was errorless, pounding seven kills on 15 attempts (.467). She also had five digs, a block assist and an ace
>Setter
Indy De Smet recorded 31 set assists, nine digs and an ace
>Libero
Campbell Jensen had a team-best 12 digs and two aces
>UCI held a 7-4 advantage in aces
>Laura Williams had nine kills to top Cal State Fullerton
FIRST SET
>A kill, block and ace gave Cal State Fullerton the 5-3 lead
>The Anteaters would score the next six, including three kills by
Katie Smith, to move UCI in front 9-5
>A
Campbell Jensen ace was followed by a cross court slams by
Kendra MacDonald to the right and
Hunter Riedl to the left to increase the lead to 18-10
>Another kill and a block assist by MacDonald with
Ella Gardiner made it 20-10
>Smith pounded a kill for the set-winner, 25-14
SECOND SET
> A pair of Smith kills moved UCI out to a quick 3-1 lead
>
Ofure Iselen began to dominate the net with a solo and an assist with Smith, 6-3
>Two Titan errors and kills by Riedl,
Indy De Smet and MacDonald extended the lead to 12-5
>Four straight by UCI, the last a kill by Iselen forced a Titan timeout, 17-9
>UCI had the final five points, the last two aces by Smith, 25-11
THIRD SET
>A kill and ace plus a CSF error helped UCI to a 4-2 lead
>The Titans would catch the Anteaters at 8-8 before kills by Riedl and Smith were followed by an ace by Smith, 11-8
>The Titans stayed close on a 5-1 run, 16-20
>Smith would record the final point from the backrow, 25-19
NOTES
>UCI snaps a four match losing streak and improves to 15-13 overall and 9-8 in the Big West
>Smith leads UCI with 44 aces. She has recorded 3 or more aces nine times this season
>Jensen has reached double-digit digs 25 times this season
UP NEXT
UCI closes out the regular season entertaining Hawaii Saturday (Nov. 23) at 4:00 p.m.
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