College Roundup: UCI women’s volleyball improves to 3-0

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Pioneer Classic

DENVER — UC Irvine rallied to defeat host Denver, 22-25, 25-15, 13-25, 25-15, 15-13, Saturday to cap a 3-0 season-opening run in the tournament.

Earlier Saturday, UCI outlasted Air Force, 23-25, 31-29, 25-16, 24-26, 15-10, behind 18 kills from Aly Squires, 15 from Marisa Bubica and 10 from Shannon Fleming.

Squires hit .311, had a team-best 20 digs and had two aces to share the team lead for the ‘Eaters, who received 26 assists from Mackenzi Campbell, a Newport Harbor High product, and 21 from freshman Shelley Anderson.

Bubica produced eight block assists, while Fleming and Manz had one solo block and six block assists each against the Falcons.

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Concordia tournament

IRVINE — Vanguard University improved to 5-2 by notching a pair of victories on Saturday at the Concordia Labor Day Festival.

The Lions handled Montana Western, 25-12, 25-18, 21-25, 25-15, Saturday morning, before sweeping Cornerstone, 28-26, 25-10, 27-25, in its afternoon match.

Against Cornerstone, Jessica Neves had 14 kills and hit .323, while Kelly Heenan, a Newport Harbor High product, had a match-best 23 digs.

Against Montana Western, Kendall Haldi led the Lions with 11 kills, while Heenan added 21 digs.

Vanguard returns to action Friday at Menlo College.