Box Score  
 
ALBUQUERQUE, NM – An exhausted UC Irvine women's volleyball team gutted out a five-set match, but came up short against Tulane (25-22, 24-26, 23-25, 25-14, 13-15) in the second match of the Lobo Invitational at the Johnson Center.

The Anteaters played almost five continuous hours of volleyball after having just about an hour between their two matches Friday. UCI needed a total team effort with 14 different players contributing.

UCI recorded 86 digs, led by libero Campbell Jenen's season-high 23. Setter Nicole Feliciano posted a career-high 21 digs, while outside hitter Katie Smith also recorded a career-best with 17.

For the second consecutive match, UCI was led in kills by Hunter Riedl with 15 followed by middle blocker Ella Gardiner with 14, tying her career-high. Smith put away 12 kills to complete her double-double and led the squad with a career-high four aces.

Tulane's block was key, rejecting 14 at the net to UCI's 7.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Gardiner led UCI in blocking with three block assists
>Freshman Jessica Bates totaled seven kills, 19 set assists, six digs, two blocks and an ace in three sets
>Outside hitter Kendra MacDonald and middle blocker Ofure Iselen each had five kills and two block assists
>The Green Wave narrowly out-hit UCI .168 to .162, but the Anteaters held the advantage in aces, 10 to 8.
>Tulane was led by Sami Jacobs match-high 16 kills

FIRST SET
>Tulane held a 5-2 lead before UCI had a pair of Ella Gardiner kills and a Green Wave error to tie the set
>The tie was short lived as Tulane used four consecutive Anteater errors to move back in front 95
>UCI chipped away then out-scored the Green Wave 5-1 including a kill and ace by Katie Smith to regain the lead 13-12
>Six in a row, two kills by Hunter Riedl and another by Ofure Iselen and Jessica Bates plus an ace by Campbell Jensen, put UCI up 19-14
>The Anteaters would close out the set on a Tulane service error and Riedl kill, 25-22

SECOND SET
>UCI got out to a fast 5-1 start on a kill and ace by Katie Smith, two kills by Gardiner and another by Riedl
>Tulane made a move with a 6-2 run, which included three Anteater errors, to edge within 8-7   
>The teams remained close until a kill by Smith and an ace by Bates stretched the lead to 14-10
>Four unanswered by the Green Wave knotted the score at 15-15
>Three consecutive blocks put Tulane in front 19-17, but UCI would battle back to tie the score at 20 all on kills by Smith and Bates then went ahead on a block by Gardiner and Bates, 21-20
>Tulane would hold set point, 24-23 before a Gardiner kill kept the set going. UCI would have two attack errors, the last a block, to give the Green Wave the 26-24 victory

THIRD SET
>UCI went ahead 3-1 on a kill by Bates  
>A pair of kills by Smith plus a block by Iselen and Bates forced a Tulane timeout, 10-7
>The Green Wave went on a 6-1 run bolstered by a pair of aces to move ahead 13-11
>Kills by Bates, Emma Napoleon and Ellen Veargason tied the set at 16 all
>Tulane would once again regain control, 20-18 only to watch a kill by Kendra MacDonald and a block by Iselen and Maia Nieman tie it up
>The Green Wave would score three of the next four to sit at set point, 24-21 and after a kill by Nieman, Tulane would record a block for the set-winner, 25-23

FOURTH SET
>A kill by MacDonald on an overpass and a smash cross-court by Reidl moved the Anteaters in front 4-1
>Another kill by MacDonald and an ace by Smith made it 6-1
>Keelan Williams had back-to-back aces to make it 12-7 then Soana Leaea had a solo block to give the Anteaters the 14-8 advantage
>The Anteaters registered six in a row on two blocks, two aces and a kill by Riedl and a kill by MacDonald, 22-12
>A kill by Smith and a Tulane attack error finished the scoring with UCI winning 25-14

FIFTH SET
>UCI led 3-1 on a kill by Leaea out of the middle
>Tulane rallied and scored four in a row, the last two aces, for a 6-4 lead
>Consecutive kills by Gardiner tied the set at 7-7
>Two kills and a UCI attempt that sailed long gave Tulane the 11-8 edge
>The Anteaters wouldn't give up, recording kills by Smith and Riedl followed by a Green Wave error to once again tie the set, 11-11
>Tulane scored the next three on two kills and block, 14-11
>A Tulane service error and an ace by Smith made it interesting, but Tulane would side out with a kill to end the match 15-13

NOTES
>Feliciano notched her 15^th career double-double with 36 set assists to go with the 21 digs
>Junior Keelan Williams fired two aces off the bench.

UP NEXT
UCI will take on host New Mexico in the final match of the Lobo Invitational tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.