After coming off a 3-0 sweep against UC Riverside (3-10, 1-3) on Oct. 1, the UCI Women’s Volleyball Team (10-5, 3-2) had energy to face another Big West opponent. The Anteaters took control of UC San Diego (8-9, 1-4), 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 25-14, 14-25, 15-8) in a home match on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California.
Throughout the first half of the first set, the scoreboard repeatedly lit up as both the Anteaters and Tritons gained points. The ‘Eaters started strong with a kill from freshman outside hitter Kendra MacDonald. In a long and intense rally, sophomore outside hitter Marianna Bertolone put it away with a quick tip past UCSD’s defense to make the score 8-10.
Junior middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu set the tone for the Anteaters after a powerful kill for UC Irvine to take over the lead 16-15. Ofoegbu’s kill kept the Anteaters alive in the set 23-24 but despite offensive efforts from UCI, UCSD managed to break through and get to the set point first. UCSD took the first set 24-26, 1-0.
In the second set, the Anteaters kicked off with a kill from junior middle blocker Kiani Stanton off the block to make the score 1-0. The Anteaters and Tritons had yet another intense set as the score continued to be tight. Bertolone found the perfect gap between UCSD’s double block to tie the set, 9-9. A kill off the block by MacDonald made it set point for the Anteaters, 24-23. As the ‘Eater crowd got on their feet, a UC Irvine block closed the second set at 25-23, 1-1.
UC Irvine kept their momentum into the third set starting with a nine-point streak. A tip from sophomore opposite hitter Ellen Veargason disorganized UCSD’s defense to make the score 14-9. In one of the longest rallies thus far, defensive plays such as a one-handed save from MacDonald and a major block from junior outside hitter Joy Umeh caused the Bren to rumble with applause. A hit from UCSD soared out of bounds to secure the Anteater’s set-win 25-14, 2-1.
The Tritons had an early 0-3 lead in the fourth set with a block from UCSD’s sophomore middle blocker Emily McDaniel followed by an influx of offensive errors from the Anteaters. MacDonald and Stanton paired up for a double block to get things started for the ‘Eaters. UC Irvine managed to climb back to narrow the score gap late into the set; however, with UCSD’s powerful kills and UCI’s defensive errors, the Tritons took the fourth set 25-14, 2-2.
The Anteaters fought back in the fifth set with Bertolone’s kill straight down the line and a powerful block by Stanton and Umeh to force the Tritons to take a timeout, 11-6. Umeh’s quick attack got UC Irvine to match point. Bertolone’s kill sealed the deal for the Anteaters to end the final set 15-8. UC Irvine won the match 3-2.
The UCI Women’s Volleyball Team will face Hawai’i in Honolulu, O’ahu at Simplifi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 pm. Friday’s game will be streaming on ESPN+.
Hanah Kitamoto is a Sports Section Intern for the Fall 2022 Quarter. She can be reached at ykitamot@uci.edu
