Anteaters sweep Santa Cruz

Freshman outside hitter Matt Webber pounded a match-high 12 kills and

senior outside hitter BJ Fell had five ace serves to lead UC Irvine

to a 30-7, 30-20, 30-26 nonconference men’s volleyball sweep of UC

Santa Cruz, Saturday night at Crawford Court.

The win helped the No. 10-ranked Anteaters (4-4) bounce back after

being swept by Mountain Pacific Sports Federation visitor UCLA,

ranked No. 3, Friday at the Bren Center.

Fell served 12 straight points in the first game, extending an 8-4

lead into a 20-4 bulge. He had all five of his aces during the run,

which also included four kills by freshman middle blocker David

Smith.

Freshman setter Brian Thornton had 32 assists and led the ‘Eaters

with four blocks to help them outnumber the Banana Slugs, 10-6, in

team blocks.

Fell had 10 kills and sophomore Paul Spittle added seven for the

winners, who host top-ranked Pepperdine Wednesday in the Bren Events

Center at 7 p.m.