DAVIS, Calif. - Senior middle blocker Aima Eichie hit .500 for the third straight match while freshman outside hitter Lauren Matias totaled a match-high 14 kills, helping UC Davis capture a straight-set, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23 sweep of UC Irvine in Big West Conference women's volleyball action at the Pavilion Saturday night.

The Aggies, taking their first 3-0 win since September 17, improve to 14-14 overall and 7-8 in conference play. The Anteaters, coming off an upset of Long Beach State, fall to 11-18 for the year and 6-9 in Big West matches.

Matias had just three errors on 38 swings to finish with a .289 average. Eichie added 12 kills and also committed just three attacking miscues en route to her .500 night. Another senior, opposite Kendall Walbrecht, added 10 kills against one error for a .290 clip. Overall, UC Davis hit .308 as a team for its best efficiency rate since posting a .353 at Cal State Fullerton in early October.

The match also served as a Senior Night home finale for Eichie, Walbrecht, setter Sophia Mar and outside hitter Allie Wegener. Mar had 21 assists and seven digs to supplement her 6-2 counterpart Maddie Merlino, who finished with 23 dimes and eight digs.

"We were pretty consistent the whole night," said head coach Dan Conners, now nearing the end of his fourth season at the Aggie helm. "The energy is always a little bit different on Senior Night. There is a little extra excitement in the air. I thought we weren't necessarily at our best ­-- there was a little nervous energy out there -- but we were consistent.

"Offensively, I thought we were great. We passed really well and had one of our better attacking nights. I think the setters did a really nice job of running a balanced offense," he added.

UCI also hit well overall, finishing at .277 after rates of .343 and .361 in the first two sets. Senior outside hitter Victoria Dennis and sophomore Harlee Kekauoha each had 11 kills to lead the Anteaters offensively, while senior libero Arden Davis led all players with 15 digs on floor defense.

Each of the first two sets was marked by high-paced hitting by both teams. Eichie had six kills with a pair of block assists to lead UC Davis to its first-set win. She helped erase a 16-14 deficit forged by an ace by UCI senior setter Shelley Anderson, posting a block and a kill to equalize at 16-16. Later in the frame, sophomore middle Kelechi Ohiri scored back-to-back kills to flip an 18-17 deficit to a 20-19 lead. Sophomore Brianna Karsseboom highlighted a run of three straight points with her right-side solo stuff, pushing the Aggies up by a 23-20 margin. An Anteater hit missed just long of the baseline for set point, then Eichie scored the winner two serves later.

UC Irvine, which hit .343 in the first set, continued to pound away offensively with a .361 clip in the second. The 'Eaters led for most of the frame, which the Aggies largely giving chase, until a Walbrecht tool gave UC Davis its first lead at 19-18. The Aggie hitters continued to play the UCI block effectively in scoring the 22nd and 23rd points of the set. The Anteaters fought back to a 23-23 tie until Karsseboom responded with yet another tool to make it 24-23. Matias then served the winner, short-hopping the passing line for an ace.

"We want to attack high and hard against everybody, and if hands are in the way, let's hit 'em. If it comes back on our side, we'll cover," said Conners. "We're not worried about avoiding the block against anyone. I thought we went out pretty aggressively on the offensive side, and it was one of our better offensive matches."

UC Davis never trailed in the third set, establishing three-point leads on eight different occasions. Matias and sophomore Emily Allen had early kills to provide a 9-6 start, Eichie had a run of two kills and a block assist to make it 13-10, and a Matias kill lifted the Aggies to a 21-18 edge late in the set. UCI managed to challenge late, with Danielle Geiger posting a solo block to equalize at 22-22. Then freshman Loryn Carter put away a shot to tie the frame at 23-23. However, UCI missed wide of the line on back-to-back shots to hand the win over to its host.

Eichie finished with five blocks to lead the Aggie net defense while sophomore libero Malia Bolko picked up 10 digs to pace the floor defense. UCI actually outdug UC Davis by a 52-46 margin, and held a slight 6.5-6.0 edge in blocks for the night.

The Aggies finish their 2016 season at Cal Poly on Tuesday.