RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside volleyball played its penultimate home match at the SRC Arena on Thursday evening against CSUN, going the distance but falling 3-2 to the Matadors. 

The Highlanders came out firing on all cylinders with a quick and easy 25-14 first set after hitting .381 in set one and three service aces while capitalizing on four CSUN service errors. Two of UCR's three aces came from Delaney Tate, who pushed the Highlanders to a 23-14 lead with the second ace before a Matador service closed the door on the set. 

Tate set a new season high with 18 kills against CSUN on Thursday, augmented by two assists, two aces, six digs and two block assists. Isabella Scarlett was three kills shy of a new career high in her penultimate home match, and Tayler Hifo enjoyed another stat-stuffing night with six kills, 46 assists, two aces, five digs, a solo block and a block assist. 

With her first ace of the evening, Hifo became just the fourth Highlander to reach 50 service aces in a season when the BYU transfer closed the gap to 23-20 before CSUN tied the match. Hifo notched career assist number 500 in the two teams' previous meeting back on October 15. 

Neither side took more than a four-point lead in the fourth set, but a dump from Shannon Dunkin forced CSUN to call time with the Highlanders up 17-13. Delaney Tate hit off the block from the far pin out of the timeout to put UCR up 18-13 in its largest lead in the set. The Highlanders completed the push to force a fifth set with the Matadors for the first time since 2018. 

UC Riverside returns to the SRC Arena one final time in 2022 for Senior Night on Saturday, November 19 with a 7:30 p.m. first serve against UC Santa Barbara on ESPN+.