Oct. 5, 2007
Box Score
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Senior middle blocker Angie Mitchell scored 18 kills with nine blocks to lead UC Riverside to a 28-30, 30-21, 31-29, 30-24 win over UC Davis in Big West Conference women's volleyball action at the Student Recreation Center Friday evening.
The Aggies fall to 3-13 for the year and remain winless at 0-5 in conference play. The Highlanders move to 5-10 overall, picking up their first Big West win of the season.
Four UC Davis players had double-figured offensive numbers for the match, but that group also totalled 40 hitting errors. Freshman Kayla Varney recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Tori Hooper hit .278 with seven block assists, while sophomore libero Avreeta Singh picked up a match-high 23 digs.
No other UCR player had more than 10 kills, although sophomore Angela Pizzella contributed on 11 of her team's 23.5 blocks. Sophomore setter Brittney Murrey hit .333 on 15 swings while adding eight blocks. As a team, the Highlanders hit as high as .300 in Game 2, posting a .126 overall success rate. In contrast, UC Davis hit in the red during Games 2 and 4, suffering from 28 errors against 25 kills in those games.
In their lone win, the Aggies fought back from a 13-9 deficit to claim the opener. Kelly Patterson and Carson Lowden combined for a block to give UC Davis its first lead at 18-17, then pulled ahead by as much as three points on two other occasions. A kill by UCR sophomore Dominique Cowling briefly put the hosts up by a 28-27 margin, then UC Davis scored three straight, finally getting the game-winner on a Varney kill.
Riverside virtually never trailed in its Game 2 win, then stole the third game despite trailing for most of the frame. UC Davis committed three straight hitting errors down the final stretch to allow the Highlanders to tie the game at 28-28, erasing what once was a 27-24 lead. UCR scored the last two points on two more Aggie attack errors.
Mitchell had three of her nine blocks in Game 4 to help UCR pull away from an 18-18 deadlock to a 27-22 lead. She also had a pair of blocks, including the game-winner, as the Highlanders finished the victory.
UC Davis head toward the coast for a Saturday conference match at UC Irvine on Saturday.
