Sept. 24, 2008
Final Stats
STOCKTON, Calif. - Sophomore outside hitter Svenja Engelhardt posted 18 kills and three service aces to lead Pacific to a 25-22, 30-28, 23-25, 25-13 win over UC Davis in a Big West Conference women's volleyball match at the Alex G. Spanos Center Wednesday night in front of 1,010.
The Aggies dip to 8-6 for the year and open the conference slate at 0-1. The Tigers pick up their first victory of the season, moving to 1-8 overall and 1-0 in Big West play.
Senior Renee Ibekwe led UC Davis with 12 kills and eight digs, while freshman outside hitter Keala Peterson added eight kills, three blocks and .304 hitting. Sophomore middle blocker Julie King also posted a solid outing, finishing with eight kills on offense and a match-high eight total blocks at the net.
Junior Mallori Gibson recorded 17 kills and 15 digs, while senior Alexa Anderson added 16 kills for the Tigers. As a team, Pacific hit .305 and outdug its guest by a 61-42 margin.
The Tigers seized control of the first set as Gibson's ace and Engelhardt's cross-court kill highlighted a 4-0 run that pushed Pacific out to a 13-7 lead. The Aggies eventually whittled the deficit down to three points, when Peterson scored kills to bring the score to 21-18, then 22-19. King's lone solo block helped UC Davis approach to within a 23-21 deficit, but a Shannon Krug tip established a 24-21 set point. Anderson's kill closed the book on the opening frame two points later.
In the second set, UC Davis rattled off four unanswered points to craft a 7-4 lead then never trailed despite eight different tie scores until late in the action. A back-row kill by junior Dancyne Kama provided Pacific with its first lead and a set-point footing at 25-24, but Aggie freshman Katie Denny continued the set with her kill through the Tiger midcourt. UC Davis held the set-point advantage on two Pacific miscues, taking 26-25 and 27-26 leads. But timely hitting from Engelhardt and Anderson down the stretch lifted the Tigers to the win and the 2-0 match lead.
The Aggies found their offensive stride in the third set, pounding out 19 kills against just three errors in a 25-23 win to hold off the sweep. Other than a 4-1 UC Davis start, neither team led by more than two points for most of the action, with Kayla Varney's ace providing the Aggies with a 18-17 lead. Pacific regained the advantage behind back-to-back Anderson kills, then built a 23-22 edge on a tool by Englehardt. However, the Aggies finished with three straight points: kills by King and Peterson, then a tip off the fingertips of Paschetta that found an open space in the Tiger court.
In contrast to UC Davis' .457 hitting in the third, the Aggie offense slipped to just five kills with eight hitting errors in the fourth and final set. Natalie Tomaszewska's ace capped a 6-2 start, then Anderson later rallied for three kills and a solo block to stretch the Tiger lead to 21-10. Krug served up an ace to establish a 24-12 match point in favor of the Tigers. UC Davis committed its fifth hitting error of the set to deliver the win for its host.
The Aggies return home to host conference front-runner Long Beach State on Saturday at 7 p.m. The 49ers are ranked No. 22 in the latest CSTV/American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
