Sept. 29, 2007
Box Score
DAVIS, Calif. - Sophomore outside hitter Rebecca Saraceno ripped a match-high 14 kills while senior Brett Quirarte added nine kills and six blocks, leading UC Santa Barbara to a 30-18, 30-17, 30-24 sweep over UC Davis in a Big West Conference women's volleyball match at the Pavilion Saturday night.
The Aggies lose their eighth straight match, falling to 3-12 overall and 0-4 in conference. The Gauchos improve to 6-10 for the year and pick up their first Big West win, moving to 1-3.
Sophomore libero Avreeta Singh tallied 18 digs to lead UC Davis defensively. Sophomore middle Tori Hooper provided a spark both offensively and defensively, hitting 4-0-13 with five block assists. Freshman Kayla Varney and sophomore Britt Erickson shared the team lead with eight kills.
For UCSB, junior Lauren McLaughlin also had a double-double, recording 13 kills with 11 digs. Junior libero Leigh Stephenson patrolled the Gaucho floor defense with 21 digs.
In the opening game, Quirarte and Saraceno each had a kill and block assist during an 8-1 run that pushed the Gauchos out to a 19-9 edge. Saraceno had eight of her kills in Game 1 alone, including two in her team's 5-1 start. For UC Davis, Singh picked up seven digs on offense in the first set.
Saraceno served up a pair of aces in an early 6-0 run that established a 9-3 Gaucho lead. Stephenson and Quirarte also served strong, aiding in two separate stretches of five unanswered that extended the UCSB lead to 19-10 and 27-15, respectively. The Gauchos had 17 kills against just three errors in the second frame for a .359 success rate.
UC Davis came out of the break in strong form, taking a 10-8 lead on a block by Astruc and freshman Julie King. The Gauchos fought back to a brief 11-10 edge, then the two teams battled to five ties through 18-18. UCSB freshman Caitlin Saxton later hit back-to-back aces in a 5-0 run that sent the Gauchos up for good, 23-18. UC Davis managed to work its way back to a one-point deficit behind Singh's serving, but Quirarte served up four straight points down the stretch to effectively seal the sweep.
Senior Katelyn Astruc highlighted the Aggies in Game 3, hitting three kills with four digs and a pair of blocks.
UC Davis returns to action at UC Riverside on October 5.
