Sept. 4, 2010
Final Stats
DALLAS - Freshman Morgan Borch tallied 17 kills, sophomore Allison Whitson had 16 kills with .519 hitting, and junior middle blocker Betsy Sedlak posted 13 kills with six blocks, leading UC Davis a four-set, 25-14, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22 win over previously undefeated SMU at the Doubletree Invitational women's volleyball tournament at Moody Coliseum Saturday afternoon.
The Aggies improve to 3-2, finishing 3-0 at the tournament. SMU drops to 5-1 overall.
Sedlak committed just one error in hitting .600 on 20 swings. Fellow middle blocker Katie Denny was 8-for-18 (.444) while freshman setter chipped in 3-for-7 offense, both without errors. As a team, UC Davis compiled a .379 efficiency rate. Senior libero Kayla Varney led all players with 18 digs.
For SMU, senior outside hitter Kathyn Wilkerson recorded 20 kills with 10 digs.
UC Davis dominated the first set, with Woolway scoring three kills and a block assist to help her team pull from a 5-5 tie to an 18-7 edge. The Mustangs never closed the gap to less than eight down the stretch. Denny and senior opposite Melanie Adams put down kills for the final two points in giving the Aggies the match lead.
In contrast to the first set, SMU jumped out early on its guest in the second, scoring six of the first seven then later running of six unanswered en route to a 17-9 lead. The Aggies whittled away, scoring back-to-back points behind Kaitlyn Plum's serving, then tying the set at 24-24 on two late kills by freshman Morgan Borch. However, the Mustangs' Wilkerson converted a side out for set point, and Courtney Manning teamed with setter Kelli Becerra on the game-winning block to even the match at 1-1. Wilkerson posted seven kills in the second set alone.
Whitson and Adams each tallied two kills and Borch added a kill and block in the early going of the third set, sending UC Davis to a 9-5 lead out of the gates. Two more Sedlak kills kept the Aggies ahead with a 12-8 lead. SMU managed to cut the deficit to two points on five occasions, but could never catch up. Whitson tallied six kills in the third to put UC Davis back up, 2-1, in the match.
In the fourth, Denny had back-to-back blocks and consecutive kills in a stretch that sent the Aggies from a 6-6 tie to a 12-6 lead. Jessica Oliver and Wilkerson later scored kills to help SMU trim the lead to 16-13 and a Dana Powell kill reduced the deficit to two at 18-16. The Mustangs later brought the UC Davis advantage to a single point at 20-19 and 21-20, but Sedlak sparked the Aggies with two kills and stuff block to finish the win.
Sedlak earned tournament MVP honors, while Varney -- making her collegiate debut at the position this weekend -- was selected as Best Libero. Woolway also represented UC Davis on the all-tournament team. The host Mustangs were the only team with two honorees: Wilkerson and defensive specialist Sidney Stewart.
UC Davis women's volleyball returns to action at California for the Hilton Garden Classic. The Aggies will face the host Golden Bears on Friday night.
ALL-TOURNAMENT
DS Jackie Vincent, Texas Tech
OH Amari Deardorff, Texas State
OH Kathryn Wilkerson, SMU
DS Sidney Stewart, SMU
S Jenny Woolway, UC Davis
Best Libero: Kayla Varney, UC Davis
MVP: Betsy Sedlak, UC Davis
