RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Irvine closed out the Big West/WAC Challenge with a 3-0 victory (25-13, 25-22, 25-16) over host California Baptist at the Van Dyne Gym Saturday evening.

The Anteaters hit .246 (43-15-114), the second highest percentage of the season. Setter Nicole Feliciano guided the offense with her fifth double-double of the season, recording 29 set assists and 11 digs. She also had three kills and an ace.

Outside hitter Katie Smith led all players with 16 kills. The graduate student hit .412 (16-2-34) and totaled seven digs, four block assists and two aces.

Opposite Hunter Riedl logged 13 kills with a .435 hitting percentage (13-3-23). She had four digs and a career-high three aces.

Feliciano and Riedl were named to the All-Tournament Team.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Outside hitter Kendra Duffey made her first start as an Anteater and recorded six kills and an ace
>Middle blocker Soana Leaea matched Smith with a team-high four block assists
>Libero Campbell Jensen had a match-high 15 digs to go with eight set assists
>The Anteaters held an 8-2 ace advantage
>Madison Gilliland paced CBU with eight kills and five total blocks

FIRST SET
>Nicole Feliciano got UCI off to a great start with an ace then after a Lancer kill, UCI rattled off four in a row including a kill and block assist by Hunter Riedl and Soana Leaea, 5-1
>The Anteaters would explode with a 6-0 run that saw a kill and ace by Kendra Duffey, an ace by Amanda Leinbach, block by Katie Smith and Ella Gardiner, a kill by Smith and a CBU attack error, 13-5
>California Baptist would rally with three straight to close within 8-13
>Back-to-back kills by Smith, two CBU errors, another Smith kill, a block by Smith and Soana Leaea, a Riedl kill, and a Lancer attempt that sailed wide increased the margin to 22-10
>UCI would take the final three points to win 25-13
>UCI hit .321 (12-3-28)

SECOND SET
>Back-to-back kills by Riedl moved UCI out to a 5-2 lead
>A block by CBU tied the set at 7-7
>UCI won a long rally on a Smith kill then won a joust by Feliciano to regain control, 10-7
>Three in a row, started by kills from Riedl and Gardiner increased the lead to 16-10
>Consecutive kills by Smith made it 19-14
>The Lancers rallied out-scoring UCI 5-1 to creep within 21-22, but Riedl answered with a kill, 23-21
>Following a CBU kill, Riedl put away a kill down the line for set point, 24-22
>A Duffey kill gave UCI the 25-22 victory

THIRD SET
>UCI came out quickly, leading 10-1 on the strength of Smith and Leaea. The duo teamed up with for a pair of blocks then Smith had a kill and two aces, while Leaea added two kills in the run
>Three consecutive aces by Riedl increased the lead to 14-4
>UCI led 19-4 before CBU rallied on a 10-2 spurt to trail 21-14
>Riedl closed the match with a bang of the block, 25-16

NOTES
>Riedl and Smith have each reached double-digit kills eight times this season
>The Anteaters had a season-low five blocks in the win

UP NEXT
In a quick turnaround, UC Irvine (6-5) will start Big West action at Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday (Sept. 24) at 6:00 p.m.