Oct. 21, 2011
Final Stats
IRVINE, Calif. - Sophomore outside hitter Shaina Olsen tallied 19 kills while middle blocker Shannon Fleming provided six kills and eight of her team's 16 blocks, boosting UC Irvine to a four-set 21-25, 25-19, 25-13, 30-28 win over UC Davis in Big West Conference women's volleyball action at Crawford Court Friday evening.
The Aggies slip to 18-6 for the year and 4-5 in league play. The Anteaters improve to 8-11 overall and 3-5 in conference.
Sophomore opposite Devon Damelio tallied 10 kills and senior middle blocker Betsy Sedlak hit 7-2-14 on the attacking chart, but as a team, UC Davis committed 34 errors to manage just a .094 hitting average for the match. Junior libero Caroline Mercado led the Aggies with 13 digs, while defensive specialist Kaitlyn Plum chipped in 10 to go with her two service aces.
Overall, UCI enjoyed much of its scoring punch at the net. Besides Fleming's match-high eight assists, senior Alexandra Hauser posted six blocks and Aly Squires added another five. Squires also provided a double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs.
The Aggies claimed the first-set victory but without resistance. Junior outside hitter Allison Whitson scored three kills and Damelio added yet another to provide UC Davis with a 18-13 lead. Then Taylor Smith teamed up with Fleming on a block to highlight a 5-0 equalizing run. Fleming scored a kill later in the set to provide the Anteaters with a 21-20 advantage, but the lead was short-lived. Whitson and Damelio put down two kills and UCI committed two attack errors in the Aggies' 5-0 finish.
The `Eaters assumed control of the second set by scoring five of the first six. Senior middle blocker Katie Denny and sophomore setter Jenny Woolway combined on a block against Fleming to tie the frame at 5-5, then a UCI error briefly put UC Davis ahead by one. Whitson later posted a pair of kills to transform a 13-11 Anteater lead to a 14-13 Aggie edge. However, the hosts responded with seven of the next nine, getting a kill and block from Olsen to put the tally at 18-15. Smith fired off three more kills down the stretch to help UCI establish a 24-17 set point, then Squires scored the winner two points later to even the match at 1-1 at the break.
Although play was close to start the third set, with both teams locking up in a 5-5 tie, UC Irvine dominated by the end. Kristin Winkler scored back-to-back aces to highlight six straight points to put the `Eaters up by a 15-7 margin, then UCI capitalized on Aggie hitting errors to assume a commanding 20-9 edge. Overall, UC Davis hit minus-.040 in the third set and converted just 40 percent of its side-out opportunities. In contrast, UCI hit .375 (11-2-24) and only allowed its guest to hold serve three times.
Nonetheless, the Aggies recaptured their fire in a tightly contested four set that featured 18 ties and 11 lead changes. They seemed prepared to force a fifth set when Denny's kill made it 23-22. But a pair of UC Davis attack errors - one on a solo stuff by Hauser -- turned the tables and gave UCI a 24-23 match point. The Aggies countered with two straight points, first on a Valerie Brain kill then another on an Anteater error, to regain set point, but Squires evened the score at 25-25. This pattern occurred three more times, with UC Davis taking a set point and UCI equalizing. However, after Fleming's kill evened the score at 28-28, Olsen held serve for the final two points. Squires finished the match with a kill for the 30th point and the win.
The Aggies committed nine hitting errors in each of the final three games. The Anteaters struggled from the serving line with 10 errors, but more than compensated with an edge in hitting average (.214-.094) and blocks (16-5).
UC Davis, which only had one match this week, returns home to host UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly on October 28 and 29, respectively.
