‘Eaters hold off Titans
Less than two weeks after a milestone victory over a ranked opponent, the UC Irvine women’s volleyball team flirted with rock bottom against winless Big West Conference visitor Cal State Fullerton.
But the Anteaters rallied for a 25-17, 26-28, 19-25, 26-24, 15-13 triumph on Wednesday at Crawford Court. The win halted a two-match losing streak and extended the Titans’ winless skein to 17 straight, dating back to last season.
The win, the first in conference play for the ‘Eaters (7-8, 1-2 in conference), was the fifth straight over their Orange County rivals (0-14, 0-2). But it was anything but routine.
UCI, which trailed and led in every set, broke a 13-13 deadlock in the deciding fifth game to prevail.
Junior outside hitter Victoria Dennis boomed a kill to create match point and freshman middle blocker Idara Akpakpa ended it by putting away a 50-50 ball at the net after scrambling digs by each team.
UCI, which topped then-No. 21-ranked San Diego in four sets on Sept. 19 for its first win over a ranked foe since 2008, had three set points before losing the second game to the Titans.
Cal State Fullerton rallied from an 8-7 deficit to take a 20-12 lead in the third set, before holding on to put the Anteaters’ backs to the wall.
UCI saw a 4-1 lead turn into a 12-11 deficit in the fourth set, before righting itself on its way to its third victory in four five-set matches this season.
UCI led, 4-1, in the fifth game, but surrendered four straight points and the teams seesawed their way to a 13-13 deadlock.
Freshman Harlee Kekauoha led the winners with 19 kills, including four early in the fifth set.
Dennis added 18 kills, while senior middle blocker Ella Rosenfeld chipped in 12, with a team-best .360 hitting percentage.
Rosenfeld had a team-leading six block assists, to help the ‘Eaters earn an 11-10 advantage in total blocks. Her tip put UCI up, 10-9, in the fifth set and she and Dennis shared a block to make it 11-9.
A back slide kill by Rosenfeld later put UCI up, 12-10, in the deciding game and Dennis’ kill gave UCI a 13-11 advantage.
Kekauoha had three of UCI’s seven aces and chipped in one solo block and two block assists. She also had 10 digs to join teammates Luna Tsujimoto (16), a sophomore libero, and sophomore defensive specialist Chloe Hakim (13) in double figures.
“I think we’re seeing teams now that are eager to win and have gone all out against us and had some of the best matches of the season against us,” first-year UCI Coach Ashlie Hain said. “And I think with our early success against a few big opponents, people are gunning for us.
“We’re not perfect, but we’re young and we’re working to get better in some areas. There is an expectation that [the ‘Eaters] can be good and beat good opponents. That can create a big hurdle to get over in trying to be good all the time.”
Cal State Fullerton, which has been swept eight times this season, hit .167 in the fifth set, just better than its .130 clip in the opening game.
UCI hit .207 in the deciding game to finish at .247, 28 points better than the Titans.
Junior Shelley Anderson had 30 assists, before giving way to sophomore Emily Blair, who finished the match and collected 29 assists.
Akpakpa had 11 kills, three block assists and one solo stuff, while junior opposite Sydney Wright chipped in eight kills and four block assists for the winners.
UCI visits UC Davis on Saturday at 7 p.m.