The UCI Women’s Volleyball (13-17, 8-10) team ended the regular season with a dominating 3-0 victory against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO) (23-7, 14-4) at the Bren Events Center on Nov. 22. Irvine won the match with set scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-11.
The last face off between these two Big West teams earlier this season told a different story as the Mustangs swept the Anteaters, 3-0, on Oct. 17.
Despite their previous loss, the ‘Eaters eagerly entered this match. UCI struck early in the first set on a kill off the knuckle of senior outside hitter Kendra Duffey. With Duffey serving however, a lengthy relay began between both teams that ended in a point for the Mustangs as their right side blockers denied Duffey’s attack out of the back row.
The 1-1 tie jumped to a 3-3 tie through an exchange of kills from both sides, as well as a service error from the Anteaters’ freshman outside hitter Izzy Romero. Back-to-back kills from Irvine’s junior setter Nicole Feliciano and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Ally Bolden gave Irvine a 5-3 jump.
SLO quickly responded with their own back-to-back kills from sophomore outside hitter Kendal Beshear and sophomore middle blocker Chloe Leluge to tie the score up once again, 5-5.
A three-point rally off defensive errors by SLO gave Irvine an 8-5 lead as Bolden earned another kill that the Mustangs’ blockers could not stop. A net violation called on the Mustangs’ redshirt senior setter Emme Bullis and a wide swing from their junior outside hitter Emma Fredrick also contributed to Irvine’s lead.
Another aggressive SLO response came through a swift shot down kill by Leluge that Romero could not dig. The Mustangs’ turn did not end there as Fredrick sought redemption with a kill that avoided an Anteaters’ double block to make the score 8-7.
As the set progressed, Irvine kept a close 12-9 lead, but the Anteaters faced some trouble in their rotation when Fredrick served. Five straight points from the Mustangs — including two kills from freshman middle blocker Charlotte Kelly — gave them a 14-12 edge over the Anteaters. Irvine caught a break when a missed long hit from SLO’s redshirt senior outside hitter Annabelle Thalken allowed the ‘Eaters to rotate as they trailed, 14-13.
Eager to dominate the first set, both teams reached another tense tie at 22-22. With a touch off the block put up by the Mustangs, the ‘Eaters sophomore outside hitter Ava Gronemeyer gave Irvine the 23-22 lead. A kill by Beshear — initially called outside — was challenged by SLO for a touch off Gronemeyer and overturned, tied the game again at 23-23.
A centerline violation by Bullis combined with a kill by Irvine’s sophomore outside hitter Madison Triplett gave the ‘Eaters their final two points to steal the first set, 25-23.
The second set began differently with SLO taking a 3-0 lead. After having her kills denied to give SLO the lead, a kill from Duffey gave Irvine their first point of the set to make it 3-1.
Originally having trouble finding their footing early in the second set, the Mustangs were able to take a 12-7 lead over Irvine — including three kills from Fredrick. The ‘Eaters were able to take back two points on a block by redshirt junior middle blocker Elizabeth Miller and another kill by Duffey, still trailing 12-9.
With a score of 15-12, the Anteaters put up three-straight points to tie the set 15-15 with kills from Gronemeyer and Triplett and an antenna touch by Beshear in an attempt to keep the ball alive.
Another exchange of kills and attack errors brought the game to another tie at 19-19. A long miss by Fredrick gave Irvine a temporary 20-19 lead, but SLO earned it back with a kill from Thalken that senior libero Campbell Jensen could not reach.
Both sides were caught in another neck-and-neck at 22-22, but Irvine took the upper hand on a slicing kill by Gronemeyer followed by a long hit ball by Leluge to make the score 24-22.
The Mustangs scratched one more on the board with a knocked kill by Beshear to avoid the Anteater’s blockers, taking the score to a close 24-23. Keeping their composure, Irvine took the set point on a relay between a diving dig by Jensen, a set by Feliciano and, finally, a kill by Triplett. The Anteaters took the second set with the same score at the first set, 25-23.
The third and final set started with a quick 3-0 led by the Anteaters. A service error by Duffey gave SLO their first point, but they quickly fell behind 8-1 on a series of kills from Irvine’s attackers, an antenna violation by Thalken and a block by Bolden.
SLO cut off Irvine’s momentum with an outside kill from Beshear followed by a double block put up by Leluge and Beshear, making the score 8-3.
At 14-7, Irvine reached the 15-point mark first on a service ace from redshirt junior outside hitter Emma Napoleon. Despite their efforts, the Mustangs’ could not get close to evening out the score with the ‘Eaters overwhelming kills and successful blocks.
Four-straight points from Irvine off a service error from SLO’s freshman libero Maren O’Farrell, a service ace from Duffey and back-to-back kills from Triplett extended the ‘Eaters lead to 22-9.
The Mustangs extended their lifeline to 22-10 as their blockers put away a tipped ball from Gronemeyer, but a net violation by Leluge set them back, 23-10. Leluge redeemed herself for the Mustang’s final point on a ripped kill that Jensen could not dig to make the score 23-11.
A kill by Bolden took Irvine to set point which they easily took on a service ace by Romero. With a final set score of 25-11, the ‘Eaters took the final set from the Mustangs, 3-0.
The powerful performance by the ‘Eaters in their final match of the regular season included 12 kills from Triplett, 26 assists from Feliciano, five blocks by Miller and 17 digs by Jensen.
The Anteaters’ sweep against the Mustangs combined with the University of Hawai’i’s (UH) loss against Long Beach State University on Nov. 22 extends Irvine’s season as they tie UH for sixth place in the Big West. Irvine competed in the Big West Championship against CSU Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif. on Nov. 26.
Gissel Delgado is a Sports Staff Writer. She can be reached at gissead1@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Annabelle Aguirre