OGDEN, UT – UC Irvine could not hold off Weber State late in the fourth set in a four-set loss (20-25, 17-25, 25-20, 22-25) at the Wildcat Invitational at Swenson Gym.

UCI look to force a fifth set, leading 17-12 in the fourth, but were out-scored 13-5 to close the match.

Outside hitter Kendra Duffey tied her career-high with a team-best 18 kills. She hit .326 (18-4-43) with five digs and two block assists.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Senior Kendra MacDonald tallied 13 kills, six digs and two total blocks (1 solo)
>Libero Campbell Jensen recorded 17 digs
>Lois Hansen made her Anteater debut adding five kills and two block assists
>Lillian Lansing totaled five kills in two sets, while graduate student Sydnee Rowe, playing in her first match as an Anteater, recorded four kills and three block assists
>Setter Nicole Feliciano had 26 set assists, while Angelina Dellutri pitched in 18 set assists and six digs. Dellutri had the lone Anteater ace
>The Wildcats held a 6-1 ace advantage and recorded 61 digs to UCI's 49
>Rose Moore led all players with 20 kills

FIRST SET
>Weber State started quickly with the first three points then increased the lead to 5-1 before Lillian Lansing added a kill for the Anteaters
>UCI had three in a row on two WSU errors and a Kendra MacDonald kill to close within 10-12 then the Wildcats put away three consecutive kills to move back out 15-10
>The Wildcats would lead 18-15 before a pair of kills by Kendra Duffey narrowed the margin to 17-18
>The Anteaters would pull within one again 20-21 only to watch Weber State score the final four points on a kill, an ace and two UCI errors, 25-20
>The Anteaters hit .071 (9-7-28)

SECOND SET
>UCI started quicker with kills by Duffey and Lansing, 2-0
>The Wildcats would go on an 8-1 run to open a 9-4 lead
>Sydney Rowe would put away her first two kills as an Anteater, 8-12
>UCI couldn't overcome the early deficit, falling 25-17
>Weber State did commit an attacking error, hitting .516 (16-0-31)

THIRD SET
>Two Weber State attack errors and a kill by Duffey gave UCI their largest lead of the night, 7-4
>A 3-1 spurt which include kills by MacDonald and Lois Hansen increased the Anteater gap to 15-9
>A kill by Duffey and two by MacDonald once again provided the offense, 21-11
>The Wildcats tried to rally scoring five in a row to inch to 23-19
>A kill by Rowe put UCI at set point, 24-19
>After a WSU kill, Duffey put down the set winner, 25-20
>Duffey carried the team with seven kills in the set

FOURTH SET
>UCI came alive with Angelina Dellutri at the service line, scoring six straight, two kills by MacDonald, three Wildcat attack errors and a block by Rowe and Hansen, 9-8
>A block by Rowe and Duffey was followed by tough serving from Campbell Jensen leading to a pair of Duffey kills, 16-10
>Weber State rallied on four unanswered capped by back-to-back aces, 16-17
>Following a Duffey kill, Weber State scored four more to move in front 20-18
>Two Wildcat errors help the Anteaters knot the score at 20 all
>A kill and a block by WSU gives the Wildcats the 22-20 advantage  
>Weber State's Rose Moore would end the match with the final two kills, 25-22

NOTES
>Izzy Romero also made her Anteater debut
>It's UCI's first loss against Weber State, 3-1

UP NEXT
UCI will end tournament action against Nevada tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. PT