FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine at CSUN
Thursday, Nov. 13 | 6:00Â PM PT |Â Premier America Credit Union Arena
Live Stats  Watch: ESPN+
UC Riverside at UC Irvine
Saturday, Nov. 15 | 4:00Â PM PT | Icardo Center
Live Stats  Watch: ESPN+
FIRST SERVE
UC Irvine makes its final road trip of the regular season, traveling to CSUN Thursday (Nov. 13) for a 6:00 p.m. match at Premier America Credit Union Arena followed by a visit to Cal State Bakersfield Saturday (Nov. 15) for a 4:00 p.m. first serve inside the Icardo Center.
STORYLINES
Coming into the last two weeks of the regular season the race for the Big West Championship is on.
Currently the Anteaters are in seventh place with a 6-8 record, one behind Hawaii and CSUN who are tied for sixth at 7-7.
UCI is 11-15 overall after splitting a pair of matches last week. The Anteaters lost to UC Davis (0-3) and beat UC Riverside (3-0).
Against UCR, outside hitter Madison Triplett tied her career-best with a team-high 14 kills. She recorded her third career double-double with 14 digs, while adding two block assists and an ace in the win.
After hitting just .028 against UC Davis, the Anteaters bounced back with a .301 showing (42-8-113) versus the Highlanders, the second-best mark of the season.
Middle blocker Sydnee Rowe led the team with eight kills to go with a team-high three block assists against UC Davis.
The Anteaters are 41st in the country and fourth in the Big West in blocks with a 2.53 mark.
AMONG THE BIG WEST LEADERS
Libero Campbell Jensen and middle blocker Sydnee Rowe top the Big West in two statistical categories. Jensen leads the Big West in digs with a 4.58 average, while Rowe is No. 1 in blocks with a 1.30 blocks per set. Rowe is also sixth in hitting percentage with a .304 mark.
Senior Kendra Duffey leads the team and ranks 12th in kills (2.92) and points (3.38) and junior Nicole Feliciano is seventh in set assists at 7.21 and digs with a 2.49 mark. Madison Triplett is also ranked in digs at 19th with a 2.41 average.
Emma Napoleon has made an impact from the service line averaging 0.24 per set which is 17th among Big West players.
THE OPPONENTS
CSUN is 14-11 overall and 7-7 in the Big West.
Last week, the Matadors beat Cal State Bakersfield 3-2 at home then were swept by Hawaii on the road.
In the first meeting with the Matadors, UC Irvine had four players with double-digit kills to beat CSUN 3-1 at the Bren Center. UCI hit .240 and held CSUN to just .069 (33-24-130) clip on the night.
Kendra Duffey tied her career-best with a match-high 18 kills, dominating the final set with eight kills, hitting .500. She rounded out her stat line with seven digs and two block assists. Middle blocker Ally Bolden also posted a career-high with 13 kills, hitting .462 (13-1-26) with two block assists.
Leah Miller topped the Matadors with eight kills.
CSUB is looking to snap a five-match losing streak and will entertain Cal State Fullerton before facing the Anteaters. The Roadrunners last win was a 3-1 victory on Oct. 23 against UC San Diego.
The Roadrunners are 5-21 overall and 2-12 in the Big West.
Three of CSUB's league losses came in five sets.
One of CSU Bakersfield's two league wins was a 3-1 victory against UCI at the Bren Center.
Duffey once again led the Anteaters with 14 kills, eight digs, three block assists and an ace. CSU Bakersfield was paced by Suelen Lima's match-high 20 kills.
UCI had 10 aces in the loss.
LOOKING AHEAD
UCI will close out the regular season at home in the Bren Events Center next week.
The Anteaters will host UC Santa Barbara Nov. 21 at 6:00 p.m. then Cal Poly on Nov. 22 at 1:00 p.m. NOTE THE TIME CHANGE ON the 22nd.
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