IRVINE, Calif. - UC Riverside (7-17, 3-11 Big West) dropped a 3-0 decision at UC Irvine (11-15, 6-8 Big West) on Saturday night at the Bren Events Center. 

Nikki Hughes returned to the lineup and swatted a career-high 24 attacks, starting with a pair of early kills. Sophia Ewalefo, now over 300 kills for the season, also notched three of UCR's first five kills of the evening. UC Riverside fell behind, but refused to break with kills from Ewalefo, Andrea Brewer, and Layla Hooks to draw nearer. 

UCR forced a pair of UC Irvine attack errors to start set two, and Hooks put down two more kills to keep the margin tight at 5-6. Two aces from Misu Nguyen were the focal point of a 9-4 run that brought UCR to within two points late in the frame. 

UC Riverside made another late run in set three, as Ewalefo claimed eight of the Highlanders' 11 kills in the final frame. UCR kept set three just as close to finish off the night. 

Jessica Dean inched closer to 1,400 career digs with a team-high 17 on Saturday while Makena Tong logged her eighth double-double of the year with 26 assists and 12 digs. 

UC Riverside returns to action on Thursday, November 13, with a 7:00 pm PT first serve at Long Beach State on ESPN+.