FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine vs Lipscomb
Thursday, Sept. 18 | 4:00 PM PT |  Allen Arena
Live Stats    Watch

UC Irvine vs Vanderbilt
Friday, Sept. 19 | 5:00 PM PT | Memorial Gymnasium
Live Stats    Watch

UC Irvine vs Belmont
Saturday, Sept. 20 | 12:00 PM PT | Curb Events Center
Live Stats     Watch

FIRST SERVE
UC Irvine will travel to Nashville, Tenn. this week to play three matches in three days.

The Anteaters take on Lipscomb Thursday (Sept. 18) at Allen Arena with a 4:00 p.m. first serve before battling Vanderbilt Friday (Sept. 19) at 5:00 p.m. PT in Memorial Gymnasium. UCI ends the road trip Saturday (Sept. 20) at Belmont at 12:00 p.m. from Curb Events Center.

These are the final non-conference regular season matches of the season.

STORYLINES
UC Irvine enters the week 4-5 overall.

UCI went 1-2 last week at Oregon State's Asics Invitational.

The Anteaters were swept by UNLV and Oregon State (0-3) before beating Montana State, 3-1.

In the win over the Bobcats, UCI hit .282 (55-15-142), the second highest mark of the year for the Anteaters.

Libero Jensen Campbell had a season-high 24 digs against Montana State, the third most by a Big West player this season. The senior is third in the Big West in digs with a 4.21 mark.
 
Vanderbilt setter Isabella Bareford has UC Irvine parents, John and Cindy. Her father John was a member of the 1987 men's volleyball team that became the 19th Intercollegiate sport at UCI.

SHE'S BAAACK
Setter Jessica Bates made her season debut in Corvallis, Ore. last week. In the win over Montana State she posted a triple-double with a career-high 13 kills and 10 digs to go with 11 set assists.

She is the first Big West player to accomplish the feat since Nov. 11, 2023.

Bates is averaging 2.71 kills, 2.14 digs, 0.71 aces and 3.29 set assists overall.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Lipscomb, a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, is 3-5 overall and coming off a 3-1 win at CSUN last Saturday. 

Setter Sophia Hudepohl was named ASUN Setter of the Week.

The Vanderbilt program has been revived after a 45-year hiatus and enters the week 2-5 overall and looking to snap a three-match losing streak. The Commodores' two wins came against neighbors Belmont and Lipscomb, both in four sets.

Vandy lost a pair of matches last week, falling to California in a reverse sweep (2-3) and at RV UC Santa Barbara, 1-3.

Vanderbilt will travel to Western Kentucky Tuesday before entertaining the Anteaters.

Belmont is 8-1 with the lone loss to Vanderbilt.

The Bruins captured the Clocktower Tournament title after beating Siena (3-2), Columbia (3-2) and Stonehill (3-0).

Lipscomb and Belmont will square off at Lipscomb on Friday.

Belmont is currently riding an eight-match winning streak and are 5-0 at home.

It will be the first meeting against all three opponents.

KENDRA X 2

Seniors Kendra Duffey and Kendra MacDonald have provided a majority of the Anteater offense in 2025. The duo have led the Anteaters in kills seven of the nine matches this season with Duffey topping the squad five times.

They both have a team-best five solo blocks at the pins.

Duffey, who was named to the Anteater Classic All-Tournament team, leads the team with a 2.57 mark.

The outside hitter put away a career-high 18 kills versus Weber State, the most kills this season by a UCI player.

MacDonald had a season-high 14 kills to lead UCI the last time out against Montana State.

The senior is averaging 2.18 kills and 1.58 digs. She leads the team with 11 aces and is 10th in the Big West with a 0.33 average. The outside hitter was a Wildcat Invitational All-Tournament honoree to start the season.

LOOKING AHEAD
After six matches on the road, UCI returns home to start Big West play in the Bren Events Center against Black & Blue rival Long Beach State on Sept. 26.