Sept. 6, 2008

UC Davis 3, Akron 0
UC Davis 3, Air Force 2

USAFA, Colo. - Senior outside hitter Renee Ibekwe paced UC Davis with 15 kills and a .444 hitting average in a three-set sweep against Akron, then scored 20 kills to lead her team to a comeback win over Air Force as the Aggies finished a perfect 4-0 at the Air Force Invitational collegiate women's volleyball tournament at Clune Arena Saturday.

UC Davis, which now has won six straight matches, posted winning scores of 25-19, 25-15, 25-21 in the morning win over the Zips. The Aggies followed with a 21-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-12, 15-8 victory over the host Falcons during afternoon action. UC Davis is now 6-1 for the season, its best start since opening 7-1 during the 1999 campaign.

Freshman outside hitter Keala Peterson added 13 kills and .310 hitting in the five-set win against Air Force. Sophomore Julie King had six of her team's 10.0 blocks versus the Falcons, plus four block assists in the morning match. Another sophomore, right-side hitter Melanie Adams, came off the bench to provide 5-1-12 offense for UC Davis in the nightcap.

The Aggies rarely trailed in any of their set wins against Akron. Ibekwe had two kills and senior Chantal Paschetta recorded a kill and block assist down the stretch in the first set, then sophomore Kayla Varney served up six straight points in UC Davis' 7-0 finish to the second set. Paschetta and King teamed up for two blocks to provide the Aggies with a 10-7 start to the third frame, then junior Tori Hooper chipped in an ace and block to bump the lead to 16-11.

The Zips closed the gap to 17-16 on a block by junior Kara Smith and freshman Tina Dimitrijevs, but never approached closer than that margin for the remainder of the match. Ibweke had three kills and Peterson added two to help the Aggies finish the sweep.

The Falcons took an early 2-0 set lead against UC Davis in the tournament finale, pulling away from a 13-13 tie in the opener behind the offense of Michelle Harrington and Nichole Stillwell. Harrington had two blocks and senior middle Jesamine Pettie recorded a pair of kills to help AFA recover from an 18-16 deficit in the second set.

However, the Aggies rebounded in the third set. Ibekwe and Hooper each had service aces in a 7-1 start, then a Hooper solo block later highlighted a 6-2 run the pushed the UC Davis advantage to 18-12. Ibekwe recorded two kills and Hooper's second solo block helped force a fourth set and prevent a Falcon sweep.

UC Davis dominated the fourth, hitting 13 kills against three errors for a .333 hitting average. Hooper contributed both offensively and on the block to open her team to a 12-5 start, then Varney's serving run later extended the Aggie edge to as much as 22-9. The UC Davis offense continued strong in the fifth set, compiling 8-1-19 offensive numbers. Air Force battled from an early 5-1 deficit to as close as 9-7, but the Aggies never fell behind. Freshman setter Asia Casino served up back-to-back aces to put UC Davis into a 14-7 match-point footing, then Peterson had a side-out kill to seal the win.

The five-set victory was the Aggies' first since early in the 2006 season. UC Davis had gone 0-5 in such matches in 2007.

Junior libero Avreeta Singh combined for 28 digs in Saturday's matches, bringing her career total to 1,107. She now needs just six more to move past Jill Changaris for fourth on the school's career list.

Singh and Ibekwe each earned all-tournament honors, with Ibekwe adding tourney MVP distinction. Also on the all-tourney team were Alex Smith of N.C. State, Harrington of Air Force, Brionna Patterson of Akron and Nicole Grypiuk of Montana State.

UC Davis returns to action for more tournament play, this time at Nevada's AT&T Invitational on September 12-13.