Aug. 27, 2011
Final Stats: UC Davis 3, UNLV 0 | UC Davis 3, Northern Colorado 2
GREELEY, Colo. - Sophomore Devon Damelio tallied 15 kills and recorded six blocks for the second straight match in leading UC Davis to a five-set, 25-15, 26-28, 13-25, 25-21, 16-14 marathon win over host Northern Colorado at the Hampton Inn & Suites UNC Classic women's volleyball tournament at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion Saturday. The Aggies finished the tournament with a 3-0 record, having swept UNLV earlier in the day.
Junior outside hitter Allison Whitson earned tournament MVP honors, while senior middle blocker Katie Denny and sophomore setter Jenny Woolway both made the all-tournament squad.
Damelio's block total matched her career best, set during the win over UNLV Saturday morning. Denny tallied 12 kills against just two errors for a .455 hitting average against the Bears, and added six blocks at the net. Senior middle blocker Betsy Sedlak led UC Davis with eight total blocks, helping the team amass 14.5 stuffs for the second consecutive match.
UC Davis dominated the first set, building a 12-5 lead on a run of eight straight points. Denny hit 4-for-4 in the frame while libero Caroline Mercado provided seven of her career-best 20 digs. The Aggies also made a valiant comeback effort in the second set, erasing a 20-14 deficit to tie the score at 23-23 on a Sedlak kill. After trading points with its host, UC Davis briefly took a 26-25 advantage behind Valerie Brain's kill. But UNC scored three straight to tie the match, getting a pair of kills from freshman Andrea Spaustat.
The Aggies struggled offensively after the break, committing 13 hitting errors in the third frame. The Bears took the match lead with a 25-13 win in the set, posting three blocks in a 6-0 run that set the score at 21-11. Alyssa Wilson hit 4-for-6 in the stanza, helping UNC hit .440 to the Aggies' minus-.097. The Bears continued to deliver in the fourth, building an 8-5 lead on the offense of Spaustat and Wilson. However, UC Davis notched seven of the next nine points to take a 12-10 lead, then Whitson had two kills and Damelio tallied a kill and block as part of a 4-0 run to extend the margin to 16-11.
The Aggies stumbled after that point, surrending an ace then hitting three attack errors to allow UNC back to a 16-16 tie. Head coach Jamie Holmes called a timeout to settle her team, which responded with two blocks in reclaiming a 19-18 lead. Whitson knocked down a kill and teamed with Sedlak on a block to establish a 24-20 set point. UNC's service error closed the deal for the Aggies and forced a fifth set.
The Bears fought back from a 6-3 deficit early in the final set, eventually scoring three unanswered to claim a 10-9 edge. The two squads traded blows for the next seven serves, bringing the score to 13-13 when Damelio slammed a free ball across the net for a kill. Damelio struck again on the next point on a shot to the far left corner, which UNC's back line was unable to pursue. Brain scored on a tool and Denny took advantage of another free-ball opportunity to close out the final two points.
Damelio went an errorless 5-for-7 offensively during the fifth set.
In Saturday's morning match, Damelio posted a match-high 16 digs and doubled her previous best with six blocks in the 25-16, 25-22, 25-17 sweep of the Running Rebels. Whitson led UC Davis offensively with 14 kills and four blocks, while senior middle Katie Denny added 6-1-16 hitting and seven stuffs. In all, the Aggies combined for 14.5 blocks at the net in holding UNLV to just .033 hitting.
UC Davis virtually never trailed in the first or third sets against the Rebels. Denny had a kill and a solo block to spark five unanswered points down the stretch, sending her team to a 21-14 lead. Whitson put down two kills in the Aggies' 3-0 finish to the frame. Junior Kaitlyn Plum served up the bulk of a 7-0 surge late in the third frame. She forced UNLV into four straight hitting errors, including two at the hands of Denny block assists, plus a service ace.
The second set provided the closest matchup between UC Davis and UNLV. Sophomore Taylor Richard served up an ace to give the Rebels a 12-10 lead, but a Damelio side out temporarily switched momentum in favor of the Aggies. They scored three straight kills to claim a 15-13 edge. Later in the set, UNLV sophomore Candice Thomas scored back-to-back skills to boost her team to an 18-17 edge, only to see Aggie senior Betsy Sedlak highlight a run of four straight. UC Davis never relinquished the lead for the remainder of the set, with Damelio providing a kill and block assist for the final two points.
The 3-0 start is the program's first of the Division I era. The last time UC Davis began the year with such a record was in August of 2002, when the team beat NYU, Massachusetts-Lowell and Humboldt State at the Verducci Warrior Classic.
The Aggies continue tournament action at Tulsa, taking on Arkansas-Pine Bluff, UT-Arlington, North Dakota state and the tournament host at the Golden Hurricane Classic from September 2-3.
2011 Hampton Inn & Suites Northern Colorado Classic All-Tournament
Allison Whitson (UC Davis) - MVP
Katie Denny (UC Davis)
Jenny Woolway (UC Davis)
Kelley Arnold (Northern Colorado)
Marissa Hughes (Northern Colorado)
Amanda Arterburn (Northern Colorado)
Kerra Schroeder (Colorado)
