Oct. 11, 2008

Final Stats

DAVIS, Calif. - Sophomore outside hitter Kari Pestolesi posted 12 kills and a .478 hitting average while senior Lauren Kellerman added a match-high 15 kills to lead UC Irvine to a 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 sweep over UC Davis in a Big West Conference women's volleyball match at the Pavilion Saturday night.

The Aggies fall to 8-11 for the year and 0-6 in conference action. The Anteaters move to 8-10 overall and 3-2 in Big West play.

Senior right-side hitter Chantal Paschetta had eight kills against just one error for a .438 hitting average for UC Davis. Senior Renee Ibekwe led the Aggies with nine kills and 11 digs, while junior Tori Hooper posted a 6-0-11 hitting line with a pair of block assist on net defense.

The entire match lasted just one hour and nine minutes, the shortest of the year for UC Davis.

Pestolesi hit a perfect 4-for-4 in UC Irvine's 11-8 start to the first set. The Aggies managed to mount a comeback, and even took a 15-13 lead when Hooper sent a roll shot across the net then teamed up with setter Carson Lowden on a block. However, the Anteaters seized control of the game, finishing on an 11-1 run. Filkins had a kill and block as part of a string of eight unanswered points while Kellerman had two kills and the game-winning ace in that finish.

UCI led wire-to-wire in the second set as Kellerman posted four of her six second-set kills in her team's 14-8 start. The Aggies closed the gap to within a 20-18 deficit on Ibekwe's kill down the line, but Irvine again finished strong. Shannon Homan recorded a kill and a block in 4-0 finish for UCI. Chantal Paschetta hit 5-for-5 in the second set for the Aggies.

The third set was the most tightly contested as the two teams played to nine ties. Hooper posted back-to-back kills to push UC Davis up to a 16-14 lead, but in similar fashion to the opener, UC Irvine found its groove and overtook the momentum with an 8-1 run. Varney provided two late kills to cut the Anteater edge from 22-17 to 22-21, but UCI completed its sweep on three straight Aggie hitting errors to end the match.

Irvine hit .333 for the match, including a .457 clip in the first set. UC Davis hit .219 in the first and .333 in the second set, but dipped to just .096 in the final frame, committing nine errors on 44 swings.

The Aggies return to action on October 17 for a Big West Conference road match at Cal State Northridge.