The UC Irvine Women’s Volleyball team (20-10, 13-7) went the full five set distance against the California State University Bakersfield Roadrunners (7-25, 4-16), winning 3-2 at the Icardo Center on Nov. 27. This was the final regular season game for the Anteaters.
In the first set, both teams started off even with a 2-2 score. The Anteaters scored a couple of powerful kills, but the Roadrunners responded to tie the set yet again at 5-5. Kills by junior middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu and freshman outside hitter Kendra MacDonald gave UCI the lead 8-5, though their lead would soon be matched by CSUB.
The Roadrunners began a run of their own, going 7-4 against the ‘Eaters to even the score against each other at 12-12. UCI answered back with three kills of their own, but were caught in the eye of a Roadrunner hurricane. The Roadrunners secured multiple kills, forcing a couple of UCI attack errors to give CSUB a 20-18 lead.
The Anteater volleyball squad did not go down without a fight, though. Sophomore outside hitter Marianna Bertolone earned a kill that was promptly followed by junior outside hitter Joy Umeh. Redshirt junior middle blocker Kiani Stanton then blocked a few balls back into CSUB territory to put UCI back in the lead 21-20.
It resulted in a back and forth battle of who could outscore the other, with kills coming in from both squads, resulting in another tied set at 24-24. CSUB ultimately rallied themselves and earned two kills to win the first set 26-24.
UCI began the second set in a tame manner, with each squad going back and forth at 7-7. The Anteaters then exploded with a 6-1 run to give themselves a 13-8 kill advantage against the Roadrunners. UCI continued their advantage against CSUB with an ace from sophomore setter Indy DeSmet and another kill by MacDonald to edge them out 17-15. The momentum continued as Ofoegbu sealed the deal against the Roadrunners with a kill, winning UCI their first set 1-1.
CSUB started the third set with a bang, going 5-0 with unanswered kills and a couple of attack errors from UCI. The Roadrunners maintained their lead for a majority of the third set, though the Anteaters did not go down without a fight. Notably, Ofoegbu contributed significantly with four kills of her own to even the score at 16-16. Consecutive kills by Umeh and sophomore opposite Ellen Veargason granted UCI their first lead in the third set at 18-17, which was then answered back with five straight kills from CSUB to edge out the ‘Eaters 22-18.
Near the end of the set, Umeh and Ofoegbu delivered a few kills and capitalized on an attack error by CSUB to put UCI on the Roadrunners’ doorstep at 23-22. However, the opposing team ultimately shut down the Anteaters with two kills to grant themselves a 2-1 set advantage.
The fourth set of the match began with both teams earning a kill to start out 1-1. UCI then went on a 7-2 run, with two kills from MacDonald and a few attack errors from the Roadrunners to give UCI an 8-3 lead. The Anteaters maintained a sizable lead throughout the fourth set.
Meanwhile, the Roadrunners made quite a few attack errors to add onto UCI’s score advantage. CSUB did make the fourth set closer with four straight unanswered kills at 15-13. However, with the kills and errors piling up, the Roadrunners would score just four more times before putting both teams in a 2-2 matchpoint scenario to decide who would win the final set. UCI won the fourth set 25-17.
The final set of the match began with DeSmet scoring two aces off the net to give UCI a 4-1 lead. Ofoegbu contributed significantly with two back-to-back block assists and a kill of her own to help the Anteaters gain an 8-3 lead. The Roadrunners did not give much of a response, scoring five more before UCI rallied at the very end with kills by sophomore outside hitter Emma Spindt and MacDonald, in addition to a block by sophomore middle blocker/right side Ofure Iselen, to earn their final set of the season, winning the match 3-2.
After this match, Ofoegbu moved up to tie for fifth in all-time block assists in UCI’s history with 312. Junior libero Sofia Skukan also had a season high of seven digs.
Phillip Lemus is a Sports Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. They can be reached at plemus1@uci.edu