Sept. 24, 2006

Box Score

DAVIS, Calif. - Sophomore Lauren Kellerman posted a match high 21 kills and added four aces and four blocks to pull UC Irvine from a 2-0 deficit to a five-game win over UC Davis in non-conference women's volleyball action at the Pavilion Sunday afternoon. The game scores were 24-30, 13-30, 30-20, 30-12, 15-8 for the Anteaters.

The Aggies drop to 1-13 for the season, having lost 11 straight. UCI moves to 4-9 overall.

Freshman Britt Erickson led UC Davis with 20 kills and a .283 attack average, while sophomore Chantal Paschetta added 16 kills. Each player had 10 kills and were hitting better than .400 through the first two games. Senior Nicole Read contributed 10 kills and a pair of aces. Freshman libero Avreeta Singh paced the Aggie floor defense with 16 digs.

For the Anteaters, freshman middle Chelsea Ellis hit .455 and had eight blocks, while junior middle Kristin Kelley provided 7-0-1 hitting with eight blocks of her own. As a team, the Anteaters had 16.5 blocks and hit .305 for the match despite a success rate of just .140 in the first two games.

Paschetta's offense sparked the Aggies in their Game 1 win. She had eight kills on 15 swings in the opener, including four down the stretch to help UC Davis pull away from a 21-21 tie. Erickson knocked down back-to-back kills behind Read's serving to create a 29-24 game point, then Read's serve caught the tape and rolled into UCI territory for a game-winning ace.

In Game 2, Read had two kills and two block assists to help the Aggies craft an early 9-2 lead. Later in the frame, Paschetta had a kill and a block during a 9-1 UC Davis run that pushed the lead to 26-12. Erickson hammered out seven kills with no errors in nine attempts in the second game, helping the Aggies take a commanding 2-0 lead in games.

After the 10-minute break separating the second and third games, Irvine found its stride and never trailed in either of Games 3 or 4. UC Davis managed a brief streak of four answered points to close the gap to 20-16 in Game 3, but the Anteaters immediately countered with a 4-0 run of their own to stretch their advantage back to eight points. Kellerman hit 8-0-13 in Game 3 alone, and added three total blocks along the net. As a team, UCI hit a torrid .529 with 7.5 team blocks to hold off an Aggie sweep.

The Anteaters' serving -- particularly that of Kellerman -- handcuffed the Aggie offense in Game 4. UCI had seven aces in the fourth frame alone, including four straight by Kellerman during a run of seven straight points to 25-11. UC Davis sophomore Kelly Patterson put down a kill to briefly end the run, but the Anteaters immediately claimed the ensuing side out then scored four straight points behind Devon Sutherland's serving to tie the match at 2-2.

Early in the fifth and deciding game, UC Davis managed to take its first lead since Game 2 on a UCI attack error at 4-3. Moments later, Paschetta won a joust at the net that resulted in a Nicole Read kill, putting the Aggies up by 7-6. From there, Kelley became the Anteater hero, posting back-to-back blocks and adding a pair of kills during her team's 7-0 run. Freshman McCall Miller turned in a side out kill for the match-winner.

The loss marks the second time in less than two weeks that UC Davis lost a five-game match. The Aggies had rallied back from a 2-0 deficit before losing to Fresno State on September 16.

UC Davis returns to road to face Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside on September 29 and 30, respectively.

UC IRVINE (kills-aces-blocks) - Trisha White 9-0-6, Taryn Robertson 3-2-2, Alexandra Filkins 2-1-1, Lauren Kellerman 21-4-4, Chelsea Ellis 6-1--9, McCall Miller 12-1-1, Devon Sutherlan 1-2-0, Emily Yamate 0-0-0, Christa Conom 0-0-0, Caroline Kim 0-0-0, Kristin Kelley 7-0-8. Totals 61-11-16.5. Assists - Taryn Robertson 49. Digs leaders - Devon Sutherland 17, Caroline Kim 12.

UC DAVIS (kills-aces-blocks) - Katelyn Astruc 3-2-2, Kelly Patterson 5-0-3, Britt Erickson 20-1-2, Chantal Paschetta 16-0-2, Rachel Keener 8-0-3, Nicole Read 10-2-2, Michelle Nelson 0-0-0, Jenny Kennedy 0-0-0, Avreeta Singh 0-1-0, Carson Lowden 0-1-0, Tori Hooper 0-0-0, Renee Ibekwe 0-0-0, Katie Wilson 0-0-0, Jenny Pierce 0-0-0. Totals 62-7-8.0. Assists - Katelyn Astruc 48. Digs leader - Avreeta Singh 16.