LONG BEACH, Calif. --- UC Irvine fell at Long Beach State (18-25, 20-25, 23-25) Wednesday night in the First Round in the Big West Championship.

The Anteaters' season comes to a close with a record of 13-18 having participated in each Big West Women's Volleyball Championship since its inception in 2023.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>The 'Eaters' top performer was Kendra Duffey who led the squad with 11 kills and hit .222 adding six digs and one block
>Sydnee Rowe was plugged in and finished as the team's leading hitter at .385 (7-2-13) adding a block
>Ava Gronemeyer put up six kills with three block assists
>Nicole Feliciano led the team with 14 digs along with her 24 assists and put home the team's only ace on the evening
>Madison Triplett had two solo blocks to lead the team and registered four kills
>Campbell Jensen added 12 digs
>The Anteaters had more blocks on the night, 10-6
>Long Beach State was led by the trio of Logan King (11-1-23), Elise Agi (12 kills), and Rhiann Sheffie (10 kills) with double digit kills each

FIRST SET
>The teams traded blows early with the match even at 4-4 before LBSU scored five of the next six points with a block from Ally Bolden mixed in
>The hosts went on a four-point run to grow the deficit to 16-8 adding the match's first ace within the run
>A Madison Triplett block gave UCI a short run to gain some ground, but LBSU fired back building a double-digit point lead helped by Rhiann Shieffie's set-high five kills
>Ava Gronemeyer hit .571 (4-0-7) as UCI made up ground with five straight points on set point, but ultimately dropped the first set, 25-18

SECOND SET
>LBSU broke the early tie with an ace that put them on a 3-0 run, but a pair of Sydnee Rowe along with a rotation violation brought things back even, 8-8
>Logan King's third and fourth kills of the match put LBSU up again, but the 'Eaters even things back up 11-11 from kills by Triplett and Kendra Duffey
>LBSU went right back on a 3-0 run to force an Anteater timeout followed by three more LBSU points off attack errors made it a 17-11 deficit
>Kendra Duffey put up a pair of kills to close the gap, but Elise Agi answered with a pair of her own to make it a 20-14 LBSU lead
> Sydnee Rowe continued her flawless night with her sixth kill forcing an LBSU timeout leading just 23-19
>UCI forced Long Beach State's first and only attack error on set point, but the hosts made the next one count to finish off the set, 25-20

THIRD SET
>LBSU held a 5-4 lead early after Sidney Hamaker was responsible for three straight points on an attack error, service ace, and service error
>UCI jumped into the lead, 7-6, on a three-point run punctuated by a Kendra Duffey solo block
>LBSU responded with a 4-0 run forcing a UCI timeout that led into a 7-point run on a Madi Maxwell ace to put LBSU up, 13-7
>UCI crept back in forcing a timeout down 17-13 after a double block by Elizabeth Miller and Ava Gronemeyer
>The rally continued with a double block followed by an Ava Gronemeyer kill to tie things at 17-17, and an attack error put UCI into the lead, 18-17
>LBSU responded with four straight points to retake the lead at 21-18
>Kendra Duffey's 10th kill made it a one-point set, 22-21, and Ally Bolden went cross-court to make it 23-22
>A phenomenal dig from Isabella Romero kept a point alive leading to a back-row attack call to tie things at 23-23
>A middle block ended the set and match with a 26-24 set win and 3-0 victory to Long Beach State