Nov. 7, 2009
Final Stats
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux posted 15 kills and a .500 hitting average to lead Long Beach State to a 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 sweep of UC Davis in a Big West Conference women's volleyball match at the Walter Pyramid Saturday evening.
The Aggies slip to 18-9 for the season and 9-4 in conference play. The 49ers improve to 16-6 overall and 9-3 in the Big West standings.
Junior Kayla Varney tallied 11 kills against just three errors while scooping up 12 digs on defense to lead UC Davis. Junior right-side hitter Melanie Adams chipped in nine kills on offense and a team-best six blocks defensively. She also had both of her team's service aces for the match.
As a team, Long Beach State hit .315, including a .448 clip in its third-set win. Ledoux hit 6-for-9 in the opening set, helping the 49ers pull away from a close 18-17 battle. Varney and sophomore middle blocker Betsy Sedlak each hammered kills to help the Aggies score three out of four points to close the gap to that deficit, then Ledoux notched two kills and an ace to put LBSU back up to a 22-18 advantage.
In the second set, Ledoux's second ace capped a 4-0 run that lifted the Beach from a 7-6 deficit to a 10-7 edge. The Aggies never reclaimed the lead, although sophomore middle blocker Katie Denny hit a pair of kills to put UC Davis within a 15-14 deficit, and a kill and block assist by Adams helped close a LBSU lead to just 21-20. Sophomore Michelle Osunbur scored a solo block to craft a 24-20 set point before back-to-back Denny stuffs allowed the Aggies to challenge. However, senior Naomi Washington scored the winner on the next point to send LBSU to a 2-0 match lead.
Adams recorded a block, ace and kill in UC Davis' 6-3 start to the third set, although the Beach just as quickly tied the proceedings at 6-6. The two teams traded punches to a 13-13 knot until the 49ers began inching ahead to a 19-15 lead. Varney then hit two kills in the next three points to pull the Aggies to within one point, only to have Ledoux manage consecutive solo blocks in a 4-0 LBSU run. UC Davis again managed to hold off two set (and match) points before Washington landed the set-winner.
The Aggies managed 16 kills and .268 hitting in the second set, then posted 13-5-30 hitting for a .267 success rate in the third. But the Beach compiled .367 efficiency during that same span to stay one step ahead of its guest.
UC Davis continues Big West Conference action at home against UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly on November 13 and 14, respectively. Both matches will take place at Upper Hickey Gym.
