FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine at UC Riverside
Thursday, Oct. 2 | 5:00 PM PT |  SRC Arena
Live Stats   

UC Irvine at UC Davis
Saturday, Oct. 4 | 1:00 PM PT | University First Credit Union
Live Stats   Watch: ESPN+

FIRST SERVE
UC Irvine hits the road, traveling to UC Riverside Thursday (Oct. 2) for a 5:00 p.m. match at SRC Arena followed by a trip to UC Davis Saturday (Oct. 4) for a 1:00 p.m. match at the University Credit Union Center.

STORYLINES
UCI is 5-9 overall and looking for its first Big West win (0-2).

The Anteaters dropped a pair of matches to open the Big West schedule, falling to Long Beach State (0-3) and UC San Diego (1-3) at home.

Against Long Beach State, senior Kendra Duffey led the Anteaters with eight kills and two block assists.

Versus UCSD, Duffey recorded her first career double-double with a team-high 14 kills and a career-high 13 digs. She added five total blocks (1 solo) and two aces.

UCI middle blocker Sydnee Rowe played for the Highlanders for the past two seasons (2023&2024). The graduate student is currently in the Master of Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at UC Irvine. Rowe is currently averaging 1.00 blocks and 0.88 kills per set. She is ranked tied for ninth among Big West players in block average.    

This will be the final trip to Davis as the Aggies are moving to the Mountain West Conference next year.

JENSEN AMONG NATION'S BEST
Senior Campbell Jensen is sixth in the country in career digs among active players. The libero has popped up 1,604 in her career, which ranks third all-time in the UCI record books. All-American Kristin Winkler (2009-12) is UCI's career leader with 2,260 followed by Devon Sutherland (2005-08) in second with 1,756.

Jensen enters the week third in the Big West with a 4.16 dig average. She is also averaging 1.14 set assists and has 10 services aces.

PUTTING UP A WALL
UC Irvine had a season-high 18 blocks against UC San Diego, tied for the most by a Big West team this season.

The 18 blocks are tied for 10th most in the country this season in a four-set match.

Freshman Abby Pekrul and graduate student Sydnee Rowe led UCI with a career-high seven total blocks each. Pekrul's were all block assists, while Rowe had a solo and six assists.

The Anteaters are second in the Big West and 48th nationally in total blocks with 123.5. UCI is fourth in the conference in block average with a 2.42 mark.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
UC Riverside is 4-8 overall and also looking for their first Big West win, 0-2.

The Highlanders were swept by UC Davis at home before pushing Hawaii to the limit then falling 2-3 on the Island.

Thursday's match is only the second match at home this season for UC Riverside.

UCI swept UCR last year in Irvine, hitting .326.

UC Davis enters the week 6-4 overall, riding a three-match winning streak.

Last week, the Aggies topped UC Riverside (3-0) and Hawaii (3-1). It was the second consecutive year and second win all-time at Hawaii.

Ximena Cordero Barr was named the Big West's Defensive Player of the Week. She had a season-high 18 digs versus the Highlanders and 16 digs against the Rainbow Wahine.

Jade Light leads the Big West in kills (4.17) and points (4.61).

UCD leads the series record 17-21 all-time.

The Aggies ended UCI's season a year ago with a 3-1 victory at the Big West Championship. The teams only played once in the regular season with UC Davis beating UCI 3-1 in Irvine.

The last time the teams played in Davis, UCI won 3-2 in 2023.

DUFFEY DOES IT ALL
Senior Kendra Duffey has led the team in kills seven times in 2025.

Duffey is second on the squad with a 2.36 kill average and is averaging 0.74 blocks per set.

She has recorded double-digit kills four times this season.

The outside hitter has recorded 18 total blocks over the last four matches and tops the team with seven solo blocks.

BEING BATES
Redshirt freshman Jessica Bates has played in six matches and is leading the team with a 2.76 kill average.

She is also averaging 3.10 assists, 2.33 digs and 10 blocks.

Bates, who has recorded three triple-doubles this season, put-away a career-high 19 kills versus Belmont, the most kills by an Anteater this season.

LOOKING AHEAD
UCI returns to the Bren Oct. 10 against Cal State Bakersfield and Oct. 11 versus CSUN.