Sept. 13, 2008
Nevada 3, UC Davis 2
Missouri 3, UC Davis 0
RENO, Nev. - Despite 36 kills and 21 digs by senior outside hitter Renee Ibekwe, UC Davis lost its two Saturday matches at Nevada's AT&T Invitational women's volleyball tournament, falling in five sets to the host Wolf Pack then losing in three to Missouri. The UC Davis-Nevada scores went 25-19, 19-25, 19-25, 25-13, 15-10, while the Aggies-Tigers scores went 25-17, 28-26, 25-15.
UC Davis, which had entered the tournament on a six-match winning streak, falls to 6-4 for the season.
Ibekwe led UC Davis with 21 kills and a .425 hitting average in Saturday's marathon match against the host Wolf Pack. Sophomore right-side hitter Melanie Adams added 10 kills on 19 swings, including back-to-back kills that helped the Aggies recover from an early 10-7 hole in the second set.
Ibekwe had five kills and Adams added four in that second frame, helping their team compile a .387 hitting average. That pair then combined for 10 kills and no errors in the third set, as UC Davis pounded the ball for a robust .556 success rate. Setter Carson Lowden also added to the fray, delivering a pair of kills, four digs and three blocks in Set 3, helping the Aggies ride out a 15-7 start.
However, the fourth set belonged to Nevada, which hit .571 and had four blocks in a dominating 25-13 victory to tie the match at two games apeice. Sophomore Lindsay Baldwin had five of her 15 match kills in the fourth, while junior defensive specialist Lauren Kelly served up three aces.
Nevada virtually never trailed in the fifth, capitalizing on three straight Aggie hitting errors to craft a 9-6 lead. An Ibekwe kill later closed the gap to 9-8, then Lowden and Julie King combined for a block to keep the Wolf Pack edge at just 10-9. However, sophomore Nicole Link served up consecutive aces to bring the tally to 14-9, and Baldwin later hit the game-winner to deliver the win for Nevada.
Ibekwe hit 15 kills with two aces in the nightcap against Mizzou, while junior libero Avreeta Singh added two service aces and 20 digs. As a team, UC Davis hit just .109 in the match, compared to a .301 clip by the Tigers.
The Aggies put up its toughest showing in the second set vs. Missouri, climbing from an 18-12 hole to tie the set at 20-20. Ibekwe had three straight kills and an ace during that comeback run. The two teams clashed for six more ties, with a late King kill providing UC Davis with a 26-25 set point. But Tiger junior Lauren Nuckolls scored two of the last three kills to close out the set and give MU a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Tigers posted back-to-back blocks in a 5-0 run early in the third set to take a 12-7 lead, helping seal the three-set sweep. Sophomore outside hitter Julianna Klein had 11 kills while junior middle Amanda Hantouli added 10 kills and four blocks to lead Mizzou in the match.
Ibekwe was later selected to the all-tournament team, her third such honor for the 2008 season.
UC Davis is back in action at its own Aggie Invitational on September 19 and 20. The two-day tournament includes the Causeway Classic match against Sacramento State.
