IRVINE, Calif. – UC Irvine battled back to win the fourth set but could not hold off UC Santa Barbara in the final set at the Bren Events Center Friday.

UCI would win the first set 25-13 then watch the Gauchos take the next two, 25-21, 25-18. The Anteaters wouldn't go away, winning the fourth 25-21 to force a fifth set before falling 14-16.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Kendra Duffey led UCI with 14 kills to go with six digs and three blocks
>Outside hitter Madison Triplett registered 12 kills, even digs and a solo block
>Middle blocker Sydnee Rowe had a team best four block assist and 10 kills, hitting .409 (10-1-22)
>Setter Nicole Feliciano hit .667 with six kills on nine swings. She totaled 40 set assists, nine digs and two block assists
>Libero Campbell Jensen led all players with 18 digs and an ace
>Freshman Ava Gronemeyer tied her career-high in kills for the second consecutive match with seven. She added two digs
>UCI hit .235 to UCSB's .252. The Gauchos out-blocked UCI 9-6 and held a 60-53 advantage in digs
>UCSB (21-8, 13-4) was led by Eva Travis' 30 kills. She also recorded six digs and two total blocks

FIRST SET
>A 7-0 run by the Anteaters, which included kills by Madison Triplett, Kendra Duffey and Nicole Feliciano and an ace by Izzy Romero broke the set open, 18-11
>UCI would close the set with the final seven points, the last two, an ace by Triplett and a block by Ally Bolden and Feliciano

SECOND SET
>UCSB controlled the set from the start opening a 13-4 lead on a UCI attack error
>Trailing 14-21, UCI tried rally on kills by Triplett and Duffey and a UCSB attack error
>UCSB would go on to win the set 25-21

THIRD SET
>UCSB took the lead for good with four straight points, two kills, two on UCI attack errors, 9-7
>The Anteaters would get as close as one three times, the last at 13-14 before the Gauchos scored five unanswered to increase the advantage to 19-13
>UC Santa Barbara out-scored UCI 6-2 to win the set, 25-18

FOURTH SET
>The Anteaters jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead with the help of three Gaucho errors>
UCSB rallied one four of their own to get back in the set 6-8
>A pair of kills by Feliciano gave UCI control again, 11-7
>A solo block by Triplett put UCI at 20-14 only to watch UCSB go on a 6-1 run to make it interesting, 20-21
>Duffey cut the ball down for a kill to stop the momentum and had two more to give UCI  some separation 23-20
>Consecutive Gaucho swings that went out handed UCI the win, 25-21

FIFTH SET
>The teams would go point for point until UCSB used consecutive kills to take a 10-8 lead and force a UCI timeout
>A service and attack error by UCSB gave UCI life and tied the score at 13-13
>A Bolden kill knotted the score at 14 then two UCSB kills ended the match, 16-14

NOTES
>UCI goes to 12-17 overall and 7-10 in the Big West. The Anteaters will be scoreboard watching to see what Hawaii does tonight against UC San Diego and Long Beach State tomorrow for a chance to qualify for the Big West Championship.

UP NEXT
UCI closes out the regular season tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. against Cal Poly in the Bren Events Center. UCI will celebrate its graduating student-athletes following the match.