Aug. 25, 2006

Box Score

BERKELEY, Calif. - Nicole LeBlanc posted 21 kills and 21 digs to lead Baylor to a four-game, 30-18, 30-20, 30-32, 30-16 win over UC Davis in the opening match of the Cal Molten Classic women's volleyball tournament at Haas Pavilion Friday.

The match was the season opener for both teams.

Sophomore Chantal Paschetta had 15 kills to pace the Aggies offensively, while freshman Britt Erickson overcame a rough offensive start to lead the UC Davis floor defense with 22 digs. Another freshman, libero Avreeta Singh, added 19 digs.

Baylor dominated the net, recording 22.5 blocks for the match. Freshman middle Anna Breyfogle led that charge with 12 total blocks, including four solos. Remarkably, the Bears produced such output despite limited action from 6-foot-5 senio Desiree Guilliard-Young, who left the match with an injury in the second game.

Breyfogle served up an ace to cap a 5-0 run that helped Baylor take an early 15-5 in Game 1. LeBlanc had eight of her kills in that frame, helping keep UC Davis at least eight points behind throughout the duration. In Game 2, the Bears continued to dominate, outdigging the Aggies by a 25-15 margin and blocking nine UC Davis swings.

The Aggies took their first lead in Game 3 when Rachel Keener's ace nudged UC Davis ahead by an 8-7 lead. Keener later served another ace to put the Aggies up by 17-15, but Baylor managed to scrape back to a short-lived 18-17 advantage. UC Davis stormed out to a 7-0 run late in the fame, getting back-to-back kills from Paschetta to craft a 27-21 edge. Baylor fought back, eventually tying the game at 29-29 when Breyfogle won a joust against Aggie setter Katelyn Astruc. Erickson's kill and Astruc's ace finally provided UC Davis with the final two points in a 32-30 win in Game 3.

Baylor regained control of the match in Game 4 as LeBlanc's consecutive kills helped the Bears open with a 14-8 lead. LeBlanc's jump-float ace helped another 4-0 Baylor run that sent the lead to as much as 20-10, then later the Bears scored three straight to push even farther ahead to 23-11. LeBlanc's offense again ended a long, scrambling rally to provide the Bears with a 29-15 match point. The Baylor outside hitter than put down the match-winner on the next serve.

UC Davis continues play at the Molten Classic on Saturday, taking on the host Golden Bears at noon then facing Montana at 4:30 p.m.