Logan, UT—The UC Riverside Women's Volleyball team swept Southeastern Louisiana, 3-0, to earn a split in day one of the Utah State Invitational. (25-18, 25-23, 25-19)
In the opening set the score was tied 15 apiece, when UCR went won eight of ten points fueled by kills from Meg Graham, Yuliya Ushakova and Cristina Maietta to go along with the four errors they forced the Lions to commit. With the score 23-17, SE Louisiana got a kill from Rachel Bunn, but Chelsea Doyle responded with a kill of her own, which she followed up with a service ace to close out the set, 25-18.
Maietta led the Highlanders with three kills and four digs in the opening frame. Graham also had three kills and Doyle tallied six assists.
The second set saw the Lions jump out to a 10-5 lead, before UCR charged back into the set to tie it at 13 all. With the knotted at 16, the Highlanders got an ace from Maietta in the midst of 4-1 spurt that put them ahead 20-17. SE Louisiana responded with three straight to tie it up at 20 apiece. The blue and gold then ran off three straight points of their own to regain control of the set and eventually take control of the match on a set clinching kill by Maietta to claim the second, 25-23.
UC Riverside would carry momentum into the third set as they led wire-to-wire in winning the third and final set, 25-19, and the match 3-0 for their second sweep of the season.
Maietta finished with a match-high 11 kills to go along with nine digs. Doyle recorded a double-double with 23 assists and 12 digs in an effort highlighted by a career-high four aces. Graham chipped in with eight kills, three block assists and sophomore Kristie Alejo had her most productive outing as a Highlander with 14 digs.
Earlier in the day, the Highlanders fell in straight sets, 3-0, to tournament host Utah State in their opening match of tournament. (12-25, 7-25, 13-25)
Maietta led the Highlanders with five kills and 13 digs, while Chelsea Doyle logged 17 assists. Hubbell had 12 digs and Graham also had five kills in the loss.
The Highlanders wrap-up the Utah State Invitational Friday morning against Portland State at 10 am.