HONOLULU, Hawaii — UC Irvine stunned No. 11 Hawaii in a come-from-behind five-set victory (11-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-16, 15-13) at the Stan Sheriff Center on Friday.
UCI beat Hawaii for the first time in program history (1-40) and picked up its first Big West win of the year (1-3, 4-12 overall). The Anteaters defeated their highest-ranked opponent since beating No. 7 USC (3-0) on Aug. 27, 2016.
Hawaii, who dropped to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big West, lost its first match at home this season and snapped a streak of 11 straight on its own court.
After hitting .115 and .148 in the first two sets, UCI gained momentum, recording .304, .323 and .348 in the final three sets.
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COACH ASHLIE HAIN SAID
"This team has faced a lot of adversity up until now so this win means a lot to us as team and as a program. I was proud of the way both Abby and Onye played tonight. They showed maturity and resilience."
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Sophomore outside hitter Abby Marjama led UCI with 14 kills, including five in the fifth set.
- Freshman middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu had a career night with a personal-best 13 kills and a career-tying six total blocks.
- Junior outside hitter Loryn Carter hit .423 with 13 kills and two errors on 26 attempts. She also added two aces and two block assists.
- Setter Kelly Negron had 30 set assists and a team-high 15 digs.
- Hawaii was led by Hanna Hellvig with 14 kills.
What we just do?!?! BEAT HAWAII!!!! pic.twitter.com/kWR1gLNepu
— UCI W Volleyball (@UCIwvb) October 5, 2019
TURNING POINTS
FIRST SET
- UCI scored four unanswered to take a 5-3 lead on a kill by Makayla Wolfe, but Hawaii would score the next five to regain the advantage 8-5.
- A 16-3 spurt, which included 10 in a row — nine from UCI errors, put Hawaii up 24-10.
- The Rainbow Wahine won the first set 25-11.
SECOND SET
- Hawaii did not slow down, scoring the first six points of the second set.
- A 13-2 surge by the Anteaters got UCI back in it as they took the lead on a pair of Loryn Carter kills, a Wolfe block, two Hawaii attack errors and a kill by Kelly Negron, 13-8.
- Hawaii responded with an 8-1 run to take the 16-14 lead.
- The Anteaters could not recover as Hawaii won 25-21.
THIRD SET
- UCI jumped to a 5-2 lead on a kill and ace by Carter.
- The Anteaters held an 8-6 advantage before the Rainbow Wahine jumped in front 11-9 on three straight kills.
- Onye Ofoegbu pounded a kill in the middle to narrow the gap to 16-15.
- The Anteaters chipped away, and an ace by Erin Alonso and a Hawaii attack error gave UCI the 19-18 lead.
- The teams would stay close and the Anteaters held set point with another kill by Ofoegbu, 24-23.
- A bad set by Hawaii handed UCI the set, 25-23.
- Hawaii lost despite hitting .433 (17-4-30) to UCI's .304 (10-3-23).
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FOURTH SET
- A kill by Abby Marjama and an ace by Carter gave UCI a 6-4 advantage.
- Back-to-back kills by Marjama forced a Hawaii timeout, 8-5.
- A kill by Ofoegbu and a Raibow Wahine attack error extended UCI's lead to 10-6.
- Four Hawaii attack errors, two on blocks by Ofoegbu helped UCI to a 14-7 cushion.
- Another block by Wolfe and Negron made it 17-10.
- UCI won the set 25-16 and force a fifth set.
FIFTH SET
- A challenge that was won by UCI and then a replay of a point kept the score at 1-1.
- A kill by Ofoegbu and an ace by Marjama put UCI in front 3-1 and forced a Hawaii timeout.
- An ace by Alonso and kills by Carter and Marjama made it 7-2.
- Hawaii would close to 8-5, but Carter would put a ball down and then on an overpass, Marjama would put the ball away, 10-5.
- A challenge by Hawaii was successful and a kill was awarded to by Skyler Williams followed by an ace by Norene Iosia to close the gap to 12-10 and UCI would call timeout.
- An Anteater attack error and another Hawaii kill tied the set at 12-all.
- Back-to-back attack errors by Hawaii set up match point, 14-12.
- Following a UCI service error, Ofoegbu would knock down the winner from the middle, 15-13.
NOTES
- Hawaii's only other loss this season was against undefeated Baylor
- For the third consecutive match, UCI won the battle at the net, out-blocking the Rainbow Wahine 8.5-6.0
- It is only the second time this season UCI has out-hit an opponent, bettering Hawaii .246-.229
STILL PERFECT: Tracking Baylor's road ahead, as the last undefeated team in the nation
UP NEXT
UCI returns home to host Cal State Fullerton Oct. 12 at 10 p.m. ET at the Bren Events Center.
