HONOLULU, Hawaii – UC Irvine battled from two sets down to beat Hawaii 3-2 (21-25, 22-25, 26-24, 25-18, 15-13) at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

It is just the second win all-time against Hawaii (2-43) both coming in reverse sweep fashion and both on the road.

Opposite Hunter Riedl was dominant putting away a match and season-high 21 kills, while hitting .423 (21-4-41). She also added five digs and five block assists.

UCI improves to 2-0 in the Big West and wins their third straight to improve to 8-5 overall. Hawaii goes to 6-5 on the year and opens with a Big West loss.

HEAD COACH ASHLIE HAIN SAID
"Really proud of our team effort tonight. People came off the bench and made a great impact. I don't know if I have ever been apart of a WIN where so many different people stepped up at crucial times for us."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Hawaii didn't have an answer for middle blocker Ella Gardiner offensively who had 13 kills, hitting .423 (13-2-26). She totaled three block assists defensively
>Setter Nicole Feliciano had 40 set assists and team-high 17 digs
>Outside hitter Emma Napoleon was a spark off the bench with nine kills and six digs
>Outside hitter Kendra Duffey and Kendra MacDonald each had five kills in the win
>Middle blocker Ofure Iselen had important three block assists and two kills late in the match
>Libero Campbell Jensen tallied 13 digs and two aces
>The Big West leader in blocks, Soana Leaea had four total (2 solo, 2 assisted) to go with two kills
>Hawaii's Caylen Alexander played in four sets with a team-best 19 kills
>UCI held a 12-10 advantage in blocks and 5-1 in aces
>UH out-dug UCI 78-61 and held a slight advantage in hitting percentage .217 to .215

FIRST SET
>Hawaii had three in a row to move out to a 6-3 lead
>A kill and ace by Kendra Duffey pulled the Anteaters to 6-7
>A pair of kills by Hunter Riedl and a block by Soana Leaea and Katie Smith tied the set at 11-11
>UCI took its first lead on a Rainbow Wahine service and attack that went long, 13-12
>Another attack error by the 'Bows was followed by Duffey knocking down an overpass, 15-13
>Hawaii went on a 7-1 run to move back in front 22-18
>Emma Napoleon stepped in and immediately pounded a kill, but UH answered with two blocks, 24-19
>UCI would hold off set point twice before a kill gave Hawaii the 25-22 win

SECOND SET
>A kill by Ella Gardiner and a UH error helped the Anteaters to an 8-5 lead
>A solo block by Leaea started a 4-1 run that was capped by a Riedl kill, 13-8
>UCI would lead 14-10 before three consecutive kills by Hawaii drew them within one
>The Anteaters answered with a kill by Riedl, a block by Duffey and Gardiner and a UH attack error, 17-14
>A kill by Riedl would give UCI a 22-18 lead before Hawaii would score the final seven points of the set on five consecutive kills and two Anteater attack errors, 25-22

THIRD SET
>Hawaii made a move with a 4-1 spurt that included two kills, a block and a UCI error, 9-6
>An ace by Smith narrowed the deficit to 8-9, but UH responded with the next four to open the margin to 13-8
>A Kendra MacDonald kill and a Hawaii error made it 12-15
>Riedl would pound a kill off the block drawing UCI to 18-20
>Hawaii would hold the 23-19 advantage before UCI exploded with a 7-1 run, the final two points on kills by Napoleon and Riedl, to close out the set 26-24

FOURTH SET
>Napoleon started the set with a pair of kills
>A UH attack error, a kill by Ofure Iselen and a block by Iselen and Riedl moved the advantage to 5-1
>Another Napoleon kill, one by Gardiner and a block by Gardiner and Riedl put the Anteaters in control, 8-2
>A 4-0 run that had a Hawaii service error, a kill by Gardiner and two kills by MacDonald stretched the margin to 13-4
>Four straight by Hawaii, three on UCI errors, made Ashlie Hain call timeout, 15-12
>The timeout led to a Hawaii attack error to stop the momentum, 16-12
>A pair of Gardiner kills helped get the Anteaters to 24-17
>Following a Hawaii kill, Napoleon put it away the set winner 25-18

FIFTH SET
>Back-to-back attack errors by Hawaii handed UCI a 2-0 lead
>A block by Iselen and Riedl was followed by an ace by Campbell Jensen putting UCI up 5-3
>A 4-1 run by Hawaii, all on kills, moved the Rainbow Wahine in front 7-6
>A kill by Gardiner on the slide and a roll shot by Napoleon that found the floor switched the lead, 9-8
>A solo block by Leaea tied the set at 10 all
>A block and kill by Hawaii followed forcing a UCI timeout, 12-10
>The Anteaters answered with a kill by Riedl and a block by Iselen and Riedl, 12-12
>After a UCI service error, Riedl was blocked at the net but punched the ricochet back over finding the Taraflex, 13-13
>Gardiner would put UCI at match point with a kill, 14-13
>Following a Hawaii timeout, a UH attack error gave the Anteaters the 15-13 victory

NOTES
>UCI has gone to five sets six times this season, going 3-3
>Riedl's 21 kills are the most by an Anteater this season

UP NEXT
UC Irvine returns home to host CSUN Friday (Oct. 4) at 6:00 p.m. at Crawford Hall.