Sept. 16, 2005

Box Score

OREM, Utah - Junior middle blocker Jenny Pierce had 13 kills and hit .522 while teammate Nicole Read added 17 kills and 12 digs to lead UC Davis, but Texas A&M-Corpus Christi came away with a 30-25, 28-30, 32-30, 27-30 win over the Aggies on the first day of the La Quinta Utah Valley State Invitational women's volleyball tournament Friday.

UC Davis drops to 2-9 on the season. The Islanders improve to 3-1.

Freshman outside hitter Chantal Paschetta also had a double-double for the Aggies, recording 13 kills and 14 digs to complement five aces from behind the service line. Another freshman, libero Nichole Brown, led all players with 22 digs.

TAMUCC was led by Kati Broom with her 22 kills and 20 digs. She was one of five Islander players with double-figure digs as Corpus Christi totaled 88 as a team.

Game 1 set the tone for the tightly contested match. TAMUCC senior Anna Machado had seven kills in the opener, helping her team turn an early 7-4 Aggie lead into a 13-10 Islander advantage. Read had three kills and freshman Michelle Nelson picked up an ace during the game's middle stretch to tie the score at 16-16. Machado's offense helped reclaim the lead for TAMUCC, then Eileen Newton contributed on back-to-back blocks to allow the Islanders to record five unanswered points to a 29-22 advantage. Read finished Game 1 with six kills.

Pierce caught fire with six kills on seven swings, while Read was 5-for-8 with a pair of aces in the Aggies' second-game win. Islander junior Lauren Carter had two early aces to help her team to a 9-5 start, but Read and Pierce helped bring the score back to a 10-10 tie. Pierce later served four straight points to push UC Davis ahead by 19-14, but the Islanders battled back, eventually tying the game at 24-24 on another kill by Machado.

Pierce had two kills and Read recorded a service ace in a three-point swing that put the Aggies at a 28-26 advantage, but Broom and Carter responded with consecutive kills to tie the game a 14th time. Paschetta's kill gave UC Davis a game point, and Pierce served the game-winner to tie the match at 1-1.

Early offense from Islander junior Paula Araujo neutralized an 8-4 UC Davis start in Game 3, but the Aggies managed to hold a lead for most of the frame. Kills by Pierce maintained leads of 26-24 and 28-26, but Machado's offense again sparked TAMUCC back to a 29-29 tie. Machado eventually spoiled UC Davis' hopes to take a match lead, putting down the game-winner for a 32-30 Islander win. Broom had six kills and seven digs in her team's Game 3 win.

Corpus Christi kept UC Davis at bay for most of Game 4, holding leads of 11-6 and 16-11. A Rachel Keener kill eventually closed the Aggies to within a 20-19 deficit, but the Islanders pulled away to a 23-19 edge on an ace by Amber Pippen. Read's kill at 26-22 began a four-point run for UC Davis, aided by back-to-back blocks by Pierce and Keener to retie the game at 26-26. Araujo's ninth kill of the match eventualy gave TAMUCC a 28-26 lead, then sophomore middle blocker Jordan Wagner delivered the final kill to close out the match.

Paschetta had four kills and six digs in that final game, while Pierce added two kills and four total blocks.

The Aggies continue tournament action on Saturday, first with a rematch against Idaho State at 10 a.m. MDT, then with a 6:30 p.m. match against the host Wolverines.

TAMUCC (kills-aces-blocks) - Paula Ajaujo 9-0-0, Amber Pippen 0-3-0, Lauren Carter 8-4-4, Ashley Thigpen 8-0-0, Eileen Newton 0-0-2, Kati Broom 22-0-2, Brooke Haas 0-0-0, Jordan Wagner 9-0-4, Carol Marcengo 0-1-0, Anna Machado 18-0-0, Amanda Munoz 0-0-0. Totals 74-8-6.0. Assists - Paula Araujo 53. Digs leader - Kati Broom 20.

UC DAVIS (kills-aces-blocks) - Katelyn Astruc 1-2-0, Kelly Patterson 1-0-2, Chantal Paschetta 13-5-2, Jenny Pierce 13-1-4, Rachel Keener 6-0-3, Nicole Read 17-2-0, Michelle Nelson 0-2-0, Amy McMahon 1-0-1, Jill McPheeters 3-0-2, Katie Wilson 0-0-0, Nichole Brown 0-1-0. Totals 55-13-8.0. Assists - Katelyn Astruc 35. Digs leader - Nichole Brown 22.