Sept. 3, 2010
Final Stats
DALLAS - Junior middle blocker Betsy Sedlak produced 11 kills in both ends of a doubleheader, leading UC Davis to a five-set win over Texas State and a three-set sweep of Texas Tech during the first day of action at the SMU Doubletree Invitational women's volleyball tournament at Moody Coliseum Friday. The Aggies won by scores of 22-25, 25-16, 13-25, 25-23 and 15-10 against the Bobcats in the morning match, then closed the day with a 25-12, 25-18, 25-20 victory over the Red Raiders in the day's third match.
UC Davis evens its season record at 2-2.
Sedlak hit .474 with just two hitting errors in 19 swings against TSU on Friday morning, also leading the Aggie net defense with six blocks. She then turned around to provide 11-2-18 offense for a .500 efficiency rate in the three-set win over TTU.
The Aggies never trailed in the nightcap match against the Red Raiders. Junior middle Katie Denny served up two aces and Sedlak scored four kills with a block during a 9-1 start to the match, as UC Davis delivered .444 team hitting in the opener. Denny posted two kills to supplement a service ace by senior libero Kayla Varney during a five-point run in the second, helping the Aggies claim a 13-5 start. Again, the team enjoyed a high efficiency rate, committing just five errors against 18 kills for a .382 average in the second stanza.
UC Davis built an 11-5 lead early in the third, then held it at 15-9 behind a kill by freshman outside hitter Morgan Borch, only to surrender five straight Raider points behind the serving of freshman defensive specialist Sheridan Burgess, bringing the Aggie edge to a single point. Freshman middle Aubree Piper later scored a kill to again bring TTU to within a 17-16 deficit, then Karlyn Meyers helped negate a 3-0 Aggie run to send the tally to 21-20. But UC Davis closed out with four straight, setting up match point on a Borch kill then sealing the victory on Kaitlyn Plum's service ace.
Sophomore outside hitter Allison Whitson chipped in 10 kills with three block assists in the late win. Denny provided 7-1-13 (.462) hitting to go with her two aces and three stuffs.
In Friday's early match, Sedlak helped the Aggies recover from a rocky third set and a 2-1 deficit en route to the five-set victory over Texas State. UC Davis saw its 13-10 lead in the opener wither to a 25-22 loss, but Sedlak pounded three kills and a solo stuff to help her team craft a 19-9 advantage in the second frame. Sedlak and senior opposite Melanie Adams later teamed up for back-to-back stuffs, contributing to a minus-.057 Bobcat efficiency rate in that set.
Texas State then recovered in a dominating third, hitting 15 kills against just two errors. Freshman Amari Deardorff hit 5-for-6 to lead the Bobcats in the frame, while teammate Ashlee Hilbun served up consecutive aces in the 25-13 victory. However, UC Davis regrouped in the fourth. Whitson scored two kills with an ace as part of a 9-6 Aggie start, then after an A.J. Watlington ace gave TSU a 12-11 lead, Adams put down two blocks and assisted on a block in a 4-0 Aggie rally. UC Davis never relinquished the lead, although the Bobcats held of two set points with their net play down the stretch.
The two teams battled to ties at 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6 in the fifth frame before Texas State claimed a two-point lead on a Hilbun/Watlington block near the left pin. UC Davis setter Jenny Woolway ended the miniature scoring run and Hilbun's setting miscue knotted the score back to 8-8. The scoreboard squared up at 9-9 (on Morgan Borch's side-out conversion) and 10-10 (on a TSU serving error) for a sixth and final tie in the fifth set. Varney served up five straight points to earn the win for the Aggies. She had an ace while Whitson scored two of her 12 kills in the run of unanswered UC Davis scoring.
Varney, normally an outside hitter, was limited to back-row rotations in Friday's opener. She later assumed the role of libero against Texas Tech, leading the team with 11 digs in the three sets. In her place along the left pin was the freshman Borch, who made her collegiate debut with 17 kills on 41 attempts for the day.
The Aggies conclude play at the Doubletree Invitational on Saturday afternoon, facing the host Mustangs at 2:30 Central, 12:30 Pacific time.
