Sept. 5, 2009

UC Davis 3, Memphis 0 (stats)
UC Davis 3, Stephen F. Austin 0 (stats)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Sophomore middle blocker Katie Denny hit 12 kills with no errors to lead UC Davis to a .375 hitting average in a 25-14, 25-14, 25-13 sweep of Stephen F. Austin to complete Aggie action at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational women's volleyball tournament at Missouri State's Hammons Student Center Saturday.

UC Davis also swept Memphis in earlier action Saturday, posting set wins of 25-23, 25-13, 25-16. The two matches took two hours and 26 minutes combined. With the two wins, the Aggies improve to 5-2 for the season.

Denny's kills total against the Ladyjacks fell one shy of her career high of 13, set against Cal State Fullerton in her freshman year. She took 18 swings offensively to hit .667 for the match. Junior opposite Melanie Adams added nine kills while freshman Allison Whitson, who led UC Davis with 12 kills against Memphis, recorded five total blocks at the net.

The Aggies virtually never trailed against SFA, enjoying a 7-2 run to craft a 19-10 lead in the opening set, then securing a similar run to an 18-10 advantage in the second. Adams was a perfect 4-for-4 at the tape while Denny hit 5-0-6 to lead UC Davis to .500 hitting in the opening frame.

In the third set, Whitson scored a kill and solo stuff then junior outside hitter Kayla Varney posted back-to-back kills to jumpstart UC Davis to a 10-5 lead in the third. Denny later had a kill and service ace in a 4-0 Aggie run. SFA never closed the gap to less than six points as UC Davis completed the sweep.

In Saturday's opener, sophomore Betsy Sedlak hit 4-for-4 with a team-high seven blocks ­-- part of an Aggie team total of 11.0 stuffs -- in support of Whitson's offense. Memphis held a 14-11 lead midway in the first set, but UC Davis eventually battled back to an 18-17 deficit before taking a one-point lead behind a pair of Grizzly hitting errors. Sedlak scored a kill and teamed up with Whitson in the final points to push the Aggies to a 1-0 match lead.

UC Davis won the second and third sets in more decisive fashion, pulling away to a 17-7 lead in the second in support of Varney's five-point serving run. Sedlak had three block assists in the third to lift the Aggies to a 14-7 edge, having never fallen behind in the entire frame.

Whitson finished the four-match tournament with 43 kills and 12 blocks. Senior libero Avreeta Singh, who set the UC Davis career mark during the previous weekend, paced the floor defense with 62 digs.

Singh and senior setter Carson Lowden each earned spots on the all-tournament team for the second straight week.

The Aggies return to action at the Circus Circus Invitational, hosted by Nevada on September 11 and 12.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Co-MVP - Calli Norman, Cara Hackmann, Missouri State
Megan Bess, Missouri State
Carson Lowden, UC Davis
Avreeta Singh, UC Davis
Ashley Bailey, Stephen F. Austin