Sept. 12, 2009
Portland State 3, UC Davis 1 (stats)
UC Davis 3, Sam Houston State 0 (stats)
RENO, Nev. - Freshman outside hitter Allison Whitson posted 13 kills and a .480 hitting average while juniors Melanie Adams and Kayla Varney each added 10 kills to lead UC Davis to a 25-15, 25-20, 25-8 sweep of Sam Houston State in its final match at the Circus Circus Invitational, hosted by Nevada at the Virginia Street Gym Saturday.
The Aggies, now 7-3 for the season, lost their earlier match in four sets to Portland State by scores of 25-21, 19-25, 25-15, 25-18.
Whitson committed just one hitting error in 25 swings to help UC Davis hit .330 as a team. Sophomore middle blocker Katie Denny also put up high efficiency numbers on offense. She hit 7-1-12 (.500) to go with five service aces.
UC Davis finished the first strong in its win over SHSU. Adams posted four kills to help the Aggies score 10 of the final 11 points in the frame, pulling away from a tight 15-14 margin to a 25-15 win. Sophomore middle Katie Denny and junior outside hitter Kayla Varney each scored two kills in that run.
In the second set, Adams hammered out a side-out kill then served up three straight points to push UC Davis out to a 13-9 lead. The Bearkats never approached closer than that margin, as Varney and setter Carson Lowden delivered two kills down the stretch in defense of the lead.
Denny served up all five aces in the 25-8 third set, capping the widest margin of victory for the season. Whitson tallied six kills in the set, one more than the entire SHSU team. UC Davis hit .500 collectively, holding the Bearkats to just five kills on the opposite side of the tape.
In Saturday's early match, Varney led the Aggies with 16 kills and 16 digs, but Portland State hit .344 in the final two sets to crack a 1-1 match tie its four-set win.
UC Davis committed 12 hitting errors in the opening set to slip to a 16-11 deficit, but regrouped in time to battle back to a 19-19 tie. Freshman Allison Whitson scored a kill to give the Aggies a 21-20 lead, but the Vikings scored five straight to end the threat and claim a 1-0 match lead.
Varney's offense sparked the Aggies to a strong second-set victory. She hit eight kills in 14 swings while Denny hit 4-for-6, helping UC Davis craft a 16-9 lead en route to its six-point set win. But PSU senior Marija Vojnovic pounded out seven kills in her team's dominating third set, then Viking middle Lana Zielke hit 8-for-9 in the fourth to complete Saturday's opener.
Denny hit 8-2-14 for a .429 hitting average in the morning match with Portland State. Senior setter Carson Lowden served up a pair of aces, while libero Avreeta Singh finished with 13 digs.
Varney and Lowden were later selected to the all-tournament team. This is the third all-tourney nod in as many weeks for Lowden.
UC Davis travels to nearby Sacramento State for the volleyball installment of the Causeway Classic on Tuesday before returning to tournament play at the Saint Louis Billiken Invitational on September 18-19.
