Oct. 17, 2008
Final Stats
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Outside hitters Renee Ibekwe and Keala Peterson combined for 24 kills on 56 swings to lead UC Davis to a 25-22, 26-24, 25-20 sweep over Cal State Northridge in a Big West Conference women's volleyball match at the Matadome Friday evening.
The Aggies claim their first conference win of the year, improving to 9-11 overall and 1-6 in Big West play. The Matadors slip to 5-15 for the year and remain winless in conference action at 0-7.
Ibekwe totalled 13 kills with eight digs, while the freshman Peterson supported her on the left side with 11 kills against just four errors. Sophomore Melanie Adams earned the start on the right side, providing seven kills and two aces. Junior middle blocker Tori Hooper assisted on four of the Aggies' eight blocks, while setter Carson Lowden tallied five stuffs.
For CSUN, sophomore Brittany Williams had eight kills and hit .294. Junior outside hitter Angela Hupp led the Matadors had nine kills on 26 attempts to go with three block assists at the net.
Adams' offense and serving prowess proved particularly valuable to UC Davis in the first set. She hit back-to-back kills midway in the frame, then served up six straight points to help the Aggies flip a 17-13 deficit into a 20-17 lead. Peterson had three of her four first-set kills in that run. The Matadors battled back to a single point three times, including a 23-22 deficit on Williams' kill. But sophomore middle Julie King scored a side-out kill to establish set point, then a CSUN hitting error booked the 1-0 lead for UC Davis.
The second set followed the opposite pattern from the opener, as UC Davis jumped out to a 5-1 start then extended the lead to 10-4 on a pair of Ibekwe kills. However, the Matadors later enjoyed a 7-1 run to claim a 14-12 lead, getting a block and kill from Hupp. The two teams traded blows to eight different ties after that juncture, including a 24-24 standoff. Peterson delivered a kill to provide a set point for UC Davis, then Lowden and Hooper teamed up for a block against Williams for the game-winner.
CSUN took the early lead in the third stanza, building a 5-1 lead behind two aces by Tela Burnett. Again, UC Davis battled back to a 9-9 tie, then Ibekwe scored two kills and a block assist in a stretch of three unanswered Aggie points, putting her team out to a 12-10 lead. With senior Michelle Nelson at the service line, King later pounded out kills on three straight points during a 6-0 Aggie run that set up a 24-18 match point. UC Davis closed out the win three points later, again on a Matador hitting error.
UC Davis hit a solid .286 for the match, including .345 in the opener. Northridge hit .310 in the first set, but fell to a .000 success rate in the finale, offsetting their eight kills with eight errors.
The Aggies return to action on Saturday against Cal State Fullerton, which claimed a 3-0 upset against Big West front-runner Pacific on Friday.
