Press Conference

IRVINE, Calif. – Sixth-seed UC Irvine could not hold off third-seeded UC Davis late in sets and dropped a 3-1 loss (25-20, 15-25, 25-23, 20-25) in the first round of The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2024 Outrigger Big West Women's Volleyball Championship at the Bren Events Center Wednesday.

The Anteaters end the season 16-14 overall. UC Davis, who out-hit UCI .309 to .193, improve to 19-9 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Outside hitter Katie Smith led UCI with 12 kills, four aces and three block assists
>Middle blocker Ella Gardiner and outside hitter Kendra MacDonald each had 11 kills  
>Libero Campbell Jensen's defense was impressive, flying around for a match-high 21 digs
>Middle blocker Ofure Iselen led all players with six block assists
>UC Davis' Olivia Utterback led all players with 19 kills
>The Aggies out-dug the Anteaters 64-56, with a trio of player with double-digit digs

FIRST SET
>UCI trailed 9-11 then after an Aggie service error, the UCI block came alive, first a triple block by Ofure Iselen, Hunter Riedl and Katie Smith then another by Riedl and Iselen, 12-11
>Tied at 12-12, Smith had a kill then back-to-back aces to move the Anteaters in front 15-12
>A pair of kills by Ella Gardiner gave UCI a 19-16 advantage
>Another kill and ace by Smith forced a UC Davis timeout, 23-19
>The set would end on a service and attack error by the Aggies, 25-20

SECOND SET
>An ace by Indy De Smet gave UCI a 3-1 lead before UC Davis peeled off five straight, including an ace and two blocks to move in front 6-3
>UCI would close to 8-9 then the Aggies would go on a 10-2 run, six on UCI miscues to extended the lead to 19-10
>The Aggies would go on to a 25-15 victory
>UCD hit .500 (14-1-26) while UCI hit .057 (10-8-35)

THIRD SET
>Team remained close until back-to-back aces and two kills by Jade Light  gave the Aggies a 16-13 lead
>UCI used a kill by Smith, three consecutive Aggie attack errors, the last a block by Iselen and Nicole Feliciano, to move in front 21-19
>The lead was short lived as a UC Davis followed with two kills and an ace to move back in front 22-21
>The Aggies would out-score UCI 3-1, all Light kills to win 25-22

FOURTH SET
>UC Davis started with the first three points then an ace made it 6-2
>The Anteaters scored three in a row, two on kills by MacDonald and Gardiner to narrow the deficit to 9-11
>Kills by Smith and MacDonald plus a block by Riedl and Iselen tied the score at 14 all
>UC Davis snuck ahead 18-16 before UCI used a kill by Gardiner on the slide then a block by Feliciano and Gardiner and a UC Davis attack that sailed long to go up 19-18
>The Aggies answered out-scoring the Anteaters 7-1 to end the match, 25-20

NOTES
>With four aces, Smith has 48 on the season and is tied for seventh in the UCI season record book with Abby Marjama (2018)
>Jensen, a second-team All-Big West performer, totaled 20 or more digs seven times in 2024