Oct. 28, 2006

Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. - Senior Nicole Read posted a team-best 10 kills and added three blocks to lead UC Davis to a 30-19, 30-22, 30-22 sweep of UC Riverside in women's collegiate volleyball action at the Pavilion Saturday. Freshman Britt Erickson and senior Rachel Keener also provided offensive boost, combining for 14 kills and a .344 hitting average for the match.

The Aggies improve to 4-19 for the season. This also marks their first set of back-to-back victories since early in the 2005 season. UC Davis defeated Cal State Fullerton in five games on Thursday night in its most recent action. The Highlanders fall to 2-20 overall.

UCR freshman Dominique Cowling led all hitters with 12 kills. Setter Brittney Murray led the Highlanders with 11 digs and also served up a pair of aces.

Read lifted her career kills total to 933, keeping her on pace to become the seventh Aggie to eclipse the 1,000-kill milestone. UC Davis has five matches remaining in the schedule.

Kelly Patterson had two block assists in the Aggies' 8-0 start in the first game, but UC Riverside whittled the margin to 13-10 behind three straight kills from Cowling. Katelyn Astruc helped the Aggies break open Game 1, first with a kill then a dump shot that forced a Highlander hitting error at 26-17. Later in the frame, Read pounded out a spectacular kill that bumped the Aggie lead to 28-19 and sent Avreeta Singh to the service line. The freshman libero served the final two points for the Game 1 win.

In Game 2, UC Riverside fought back from a 14-9 deficit to tie the game at 16-16. Later in the game, sophomore Michelle Nelson served up five straight points to help UC Davis pull away to a 28-19 edge, then Read scored another monstrous kill to set up a 29-20 game point. Nelson had served up 14 straight points in Thursday's win over Fullerton.

UC Riverside took an 11-10 lead early in Game 3, then committed a serving error to tie the frame at 11-11. Aggie setter Katelyn Astruc assumed the serving chores, then served up a 5-0 run, ending with a block by Read and sophomore Kelly Patterson that Riverside was unable to cover. The Aggies protected that lead the rest of the way, and Patterson served up back-to-back aces to end the game and complete the sweep.

UC Davis returns to action for a road match at Pacific on November 2, then completes the season with four straight matches at home.