Anteaters Drop Big West Opener to Long Beach State

Friday, September 25

Irvine, Calif.

6:00 PM

UC Irvine

2-10,0-1Big West

Long Beach State

9-2,1-0Big West

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Long Beach St.	25	25	25	3
UC Irvine	13	17	17	0

Box Score (PDF)

Madison Triplett jump serving in an NCAA women's volleyball match.

Anteaters Drop Big West Opener to Long Beach State

September 25, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine women's volleyball fell to Long Beach State, 13-25, 17-25, 17-25, in their Big West opener Friday evening at the Bren Events Center.

The Anteaters were scrappy all night, leading the way in digs (51-49), but they couldn't overcome the height of the Beach.

LBSU (9-2, 1-0 Big West) held a 12-4 advantage in total team blocks, and hit .265 for the match, while holding UCI to -.034. It was the first time the 'Eaters hit in the negative this season.

BY THE NUMBERS: Junior Madison Triplett led UC Irvine in kills for the fifth match in a row, finishing with a team-high eight. The 5-foot-9 outside hitter also had five digs and two solo blocks.

Junior Ava Gronemeyer added a season-best five kills on .455 hitting (5-0-11) in two sets played.

Junior Whitney Wallace, the reigning Big West Defensive Player of the Week, continued to shine in the back row with a match-high 17 digs. Senior Nicole Feliciano finished with 12 assists, eight digs, three kills, and two blocks. Sophomore Angelina Dellutri contributed eight digs.

Sidney Hamaker paced LBSU with 10 kills (.310). Madi Maxwell also registered 20 assists, 11 digs, and five blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Taylor Boice and Feliciano started the match with a double block. The two teams then traded points until Long Beach State created some separation at 9-5. Back-to-back kills from Brianna Brewer cut UC Irvine's deficit to two. The Beach then responded with an 11-2 rally to open up a 20-9 lead. The Anteaters scored three-straight points with a Triplett kill, an LBSU hitting error, and a Kaia Ciszewski ace, but the visitors scored five of the last six points for the 25-13 win.

In second set, the 'Eaters (2-10, 0-1 Big West) scored the first two points and kept it close before Long Beach State went on a 6-2 run to go up, 17-10. UCI closed the gap to five on a solo block by Triplett, but the Beach finished strong for the 25-17 victory.

LBSU raced out to a 9-3 lead in the third frame. UC Irvine came within four on another solo block from Triplett but couldn't put together a big run as it went back-and-forth until Long Beach State went on top, 17-8. The Anteaters got consecutive kills from Triplett and Memphis Burnett to start a mini 4-1 spurt that made it a six-point game. That was the closest they would get, however, eventually falling 25-17.

UP NEXT: UC Irvine returns to the court tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 26) to face Cal State Fullerton. First serve is set for 5 p.m. at the Bren Events Center.

NOTES
• The Anteaters drew a crowd of 1,063 for their Big West opener.
• Whitney Wallace extended her double-digit dig streak to nine matches in a row.
• Madison Triplett had two solo blocks for the second time in her career with the first also coming against Long Beach State (Nov. 26, 2025).
• Ava Gronemeyer hit a career-best .455 (5-0-11) in just her third appearance of the year.
• UCI used its eighth different starting lineup in its 12th match of the season.