The UCI Anteater Women’s Volleyball Team (12-7, 5-4) claimed victory in a five-set banger match-up on Friday, Oct. 21 against the California State University Bakersfield Roadrunners (5-16, 2-7) at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, CA.
At the beginning of the first set, CSU Bakersfield attacked the Irvine squad, and the ‘Eaters failed to put up a strong defense. The CSUB offensive leader of the night was freshman outside hitter Lizzie Binder.
UCI eventually got their heads back into the game, with four kills in the middle of the set coming off the heels of junior outside hitter Joy Umeh. Umeh put up season-high numbers in this game with 24 points, 4 blocks, a few clutch aces and 63 attacks. However, UCI also made crucial errors in their strategy plays against CSUB, allowing several balls to drop out of bounds. CSUB ultimately won the set 25-21, 1-0.
The Anteaters put up a staggering 9-1 against the Roadrunners at the beginning of the second set. UCI also had notable defense: redshirt junior middle blocker Kiani Stanton and junior middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu had solid blocks and kills against CSUB. Unlike the first set, CSUB lacked their offensive edge — when CSUB went on a 4-0 tear, getting one kill after another, freshman libero Campbell Jensen shut down their momentum with an ace right along the line to make it 17-10. UCI won the second set of the game 25-17, 1-1.
The third set of the game began again with a UCI kill advantage. Umeh, junior setter Kelly Negron and an attack error by the Roadrunners helped UCI gain a 4-0 kill advantage. By this point in the match, however, CSUB had woken up. They went on a 5-1 kill streak and attacked more by 52%, up from a lower 45% attack percentage in the previous set, to make it a 10-8 score.
CSUB was getting more touches and capitalized on offensive opportunities, giving UCI a run for their money. However, Ofoegbu gave the ‘Eaters a good kill advantage with a kill and a well-placed ace to tie the set at 10-10. CSUB responded back with a 3-1 run and back-to-back kills to bring the score to 17-13. They scored three more kills, extending their lead to 20-15.
CSUB held the lead at 24-17 before UCI played near-perfect volleyball and went on a 7-0 run. Kills came in from both pin hitters, sophomore opposite Ellen Veargason, junior outside hitter Bailey Darnell and Umeh to make it an exciting 24-24 neck-and-neck race. However, the excitement soon ended with a service error from UCI and a block from CSUB in fair territory to give the Roadrunners the win at 26-24 and a 2-1 set advantage going into the fourth set.
At the beginning of the set, Kendra MacDonald marked the beginning of a 7-3 kill advantage with an ace. Later on in the set, two more aces by Ofoegbu extended the UCI lead to an even larger 11-4.
A kill by sophomore outside hitter Marianna Bertolone and two more kills for Umeh pounded CSUB into the ground offensively. UCI remained in the lead for the rest of the set and won 25-16, tying the game 2-2.
Set five proved to be a close game between the two volleyball squads. UCI started the set 3-0 with two blocks by Stanton and Umeh, as well as a kill by Umeh, and more defensive blocks by MacDonald and Stanton. The Anteaters were up by 5-2 until CSUB began making a few good aces and kills to take the lead by 7-5.
The scoreboard soon switched, courtesy of a couple of kills by Ofoegbu and MacDonald and a few blocks to make it a 8-7 lead for UCI. The set eventually tied 10-10, but not before long, UCI went on a 5-0 run with a barrage of kills to conclude the set with a UCI victory 15-10, 3-2.
The Anteaters move up 12-7 in the Big West conference, while the Roadrunners’ record drops to 5-16.
Phillip Lemus is a Sports Intern for the fall 2022 quarter. They can be reached at plemus1@uci.edu
