'Eaters Come up Short in Five-Set Battle with New Mexico State

Thursday, September 3

Fresno, Calif.

2:00 PM

UC Irvine

0-4,0-0Big West

New Mexico State

2-2,0-0CUSA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
UC Irvine	19	25	21	25	13	2
New Mexico St.	25	22	25	16	15	3

Brianna Brewer hitting the ball during a volleyball match at the Bren Events Center.

'Eaters Come up Short in Five-Set Battle with New Mexico State

September 03, 2026 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

FRESNO, Calif. - UC Irvine women's volleyball continued to show their resilience, but came up just short in five sets to New Mexico State in the first match of the Bulldog Invitational Thursday afternoon at Save Mart Center. Set scores were 19-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-16, 13-15.

The Anteaters rebounded from being down 1-0 and 2-1 to force a fifth set for the first time this year. They trailed early in the final frame before using a big serving run from freshman Kaia Ciszewski that included three aces to go up, 8-4. The Aggies punched right back with four unanswered to knot the score. It remained close the rest of the way with NM State creating late separation for the win in their second-straight five-setter.

BY THE NUMBERS: Freshman middle Taylor Boice led three 'Eaters in double digits with a season-high 18 kills. Boice committed only two errors on 30 swings for a .533 percentage. She also had four blocks.

Junior outside hitter Madison Triplett added 12 kills and nine digs, while redshirt freshman outside hitter Brianna Brewer had 11 kills in her long-awaited collegiate debut. Brewer missed each of the last two seasons with injuries.

Junior libero Whitney Wallace anchored the back row with a career-high 23 digs. Sophomore middle Abby Pekrul registered a season-best six blocks, and senior setter Nicole Feliciano finished with 18 assists and 14 digs. Sophomore setter Angelina Dellutri also dished out a career-best 27 assists.

UCI hit .237 as a team, while holding New Mexico State to .199. The Anteaters also won the battle in kills (63-57) and total blocks (10-8). Tess Fuqua paced the Aggies with 13 kills and 10 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED: New Mexico State (2-2) raced out to an 8-3 lead in the opening set. After calling a timeout, UC Irvine sided out and eventually closed the gap to 10-7 with a Memphis Burnett kill followed by a Pekrul/Jessica Bates double block. The teams then traded points until three-straight kills from the Aggies increased their margin to 14-8. The Anteaters responded with a 5-0 spurt, capped by a Dellutri ace, to make it 15-14. That was the closest UCI would get as NM State stayed out front and used a late push to seal the 25-19 victory.

The second set started in similar fashion to the first with New Mexico State taking an 8-2 advantage. The 'Eaters quickly scored three points to cut the deficit in half. It continued to go back-and-forth until UC Irvine used an 8-3 rally for its first lead of the match at 21-20. Two ties ensued, but the Anteaters finished the set strong with a Bates solo block and a kill from Pekrul giving them the 25-22 win.

UCI (0-4) kept the momentum early in the third frame, taking a 6-1 lead on a Triplett kill. The Aggies called a timeout and proceeded to go on an 8-2 run to pull ahead by one. A seesaw battle followed with 11 ties and four lead changes before NM State scored the final four points for the 25-21 victory. Triplett had six of her 12 kills in the set.

A Brewer kill sandwiched in between two kills from Boice got UC Irvine out to a 3-0 start in the fourth. New Mexico State tied it up at 6-all, but the 'Eaters proceeded to outscore the Aggies, 8-2, with back-to-back kills by Feliciano putting them on top, 14-8. UCI continued to roll, finishing the set with the largest margin of victory in the match at 25-16.

NM State scored the first three points of the fifth set before an 8-1 rally gave the Anteaters a four-point cushion. Ciszewski sparked the run from the service line with three aces, while Boice also had three kills. New Mexico State came right back to tie it up at 8-8 and then did just enough down the stretch to take the set and the match at 15-13.

UP NEXT: UC Irvine returns to Save Mart Center on Friday, Sept. 4, when it faces Southern Utah at 2 p.m.

NOTES
• Whitney Wallace's 23 digs are the second most by a Big West player through the start of the second week of the season.
• After not having anyone with 10+ kills in all three matches last weekend, three 'Eaters reached double figures today.
• Taylor Boice led the Anteaters in kills for the second-straight match.
• Abby Pekrul has recorded at least one solo block in three of her four appearances this year.
• This was New Mexico State head coach Mike Jordan's 600th career win.