IRVINE, California—The UC San Diego women's volleyball team dropped a four-set decision on the road at Big West Conference opponent UC Irvine Tuesday night.

Scores from the Bren Events Center in Orange County were 25-13, 22-25, 25-21, and 25-18.

The Tritons are now 9-17 overall and 6-9 in the Big West in their inaugural season at the NCAA Division I level. The Anteaters improved to 15-10 overall and are now over .500 in conference matches at 8-7.

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HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego struggled on offense, finishing with a .139 (47-26-151) hitting percentage. UC Irvine stymied the Tritons with its strong block, finishing with 15 team stuffs, nine more than its opponent.

The Anteaters posted a .283 (61-20-145) attack, which included a .538 (16-2-26) clip in the opening set and a .389 (18-4-36) in the fourth.

UCI was effective from the service line as well, finishing with six aces to three errors. UC San Diego had two aces on three errors.

Individually, UC San Diego had three players total at least 10 kills including freshman outside hitter Zaria Henderson (match-high 14), senior opposite Trinity Castaneda (13), and sophomore outside Ava McInnes (10). Henderson added 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.

Sophomore middle blocker Grace Cannon had a nice night for the Tritons, hitting .412 with eight kills and a single error in 17 attack attempts.

Senior setter Isabela Dobra had 42 and eight digs, while junior libero Naya Dong had a team-best 16 digs on defense.

For the Anteaters, Joy Umeh led with 14 kills. Onye Ofoegbu hit a torrid .632 with 13 kills and a lone error in 19 swings while also logging 10 block assists. Emma Spindt came in at .450 with 10 kills and 1 error in 20 attack attempts. Carly Richter led all players with her 21 digs.

Six different players accounted for UCI's six aces while four players finished with at least five blocks.

Up by just one point, 13-12, in the first set, UC Irvine exploded to win 12 of the next 13 points.

The second set was tight most of the way with the biggest lead being four points when the Tritons were up 13-9 following a four-point run. Trailing 19-18, UC San Diego scored three straight points to go back in front. An Anteater block evened it up once again at 22-22, but back-to-back kills from Castaneda and Henderson plus a UCI attack error ended the set in favor of UC San Diego.

The third frame was tight until a 9-2 Anteater run put them up 18-12.

At 20-18 in the fourth set, UCI shut it down with five unanswered points to win the match.

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TRITON TIDBITS
• Naya Dong has totaled at least 10 digs in 22 of 26 matches.
• Over her 16 matches played, Grace Cannon has finished with eight kills four times, one off her career-high of nine.
• Including tonight, an opponent has totaled 60 or more kills against the Tritons just three times this season.
• Isabela Dobra's streak of four consecutive double-doubles was halted tonight.
• The Tritons have 1,627 digs this season while opponents have totaled 1,575.
• UC Irvine swept the season series as the Anteaters outlasted the Tritons in a five-set thriller on October 5 in La Jolla.

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UP NEXT
UC San Diego remains on the road to play at Hawaii on Sunday, November 14 (7 p.m. PT).
 
For live coverage links and UC San Diego's complete 2021 schedule, click here.

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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.