Oct. 3, 2008
Final Stats
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Senior outside hitter Kylie Atherstone served up five of her team's 12 aces to lead 24th-ranked Cal Poly to a 25-22, 25-20, 25-11 sweep over UC Davis in a Big West Conference women's volleyball match at Mott Gymnasium Friday evening.
The Aggies even their record at 8-8 and fall to 0-3 in conference. The Mustangs improve to 8-6 overall and remain unbeaten in Big West play at 3-0.
No player on either team had double-figured kills in a match that lasted 85 minutes. Freshman outside hitter Keala Peterson had eight kills in 27 swings, while senior Renee Ibekwe had a team-best nine kills and nine digs. Junior libero Avreeta Singh picked up 14 digs with sophomore Kayla Varney trailing with 10.
For Cal Poly, Atherstone and Ali Waller each had nine kills. Sophomore libero Alison Mort added four aces to the Mustangs' serving performance while providing 10 digs of floor defense.
UC Davis offered its toughest battle in the opening set, scrambling back from a 16-8 deficit to close within a 17-15 gap on a solo block by sophomore middle Julie King. Cal Poly padded its edge to 20-15, but the Aggies again fought back. Ibekwe scored a side-out kill at 21-17, then her service ace later trimmed the lead to 21-19. UC Davis also fought off a set point on a Peterson solo stuff, but Cal Poly earned the side out point courtesy of Atherstone's kill.
The Mustangs capitalized on four early Aggie hitting errors in the second set to run up an 8-3 lead in the second set, then back-to-back Atherstone kills helped extend the lead to 19-12. Peterson had two kills and her second block to help UC Davis fight back to within a 21-18 deficit, but the Aggies never closed the gap by less than three points.
Cal Poly finished with a strong third-set performance as Mort served all four of her aces in a 7-0 start, then Atherstone had two kills and an ace to push the margin to 11-2. The Mustangs hit .290 in the final frame, compared to the Aggies' .085 clip, finishing off its conference sweep.
UC Davis returns to action at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at 7 p.m.
