Sept. 16, 2011
Final Stats
DAVIS, Calif. - Junior outside hitter Allison Whitson posted 16 kills, a .333 hitting average and 12 digs to lead UC Davis to a 24-26, 25-14, 25-22, 25-23 victory over Hofstra in Friday's action of the Aggie Invitational women's volleyball tournament at Pavilion Friday night.
The Aggies, among the teams receiving votes in Monday's AVCA Top 25 poll, improve to 12-1. They are now tied with the 1993 squad for the best start in school history.
Whitson committed just two hitting errors in 42 attempts for the match. Senior middle blocker Betsy Sedlak also hit at a .333 rate, firing nine kills with just one error. She also recorded five blocks, one behind fellow senior Katie Denny's 1-5-6 blocks chart. Junior Caroline Mercado picked up 17 digs to lead four Aggies in double figures. Sophomore setter Jenny Woolway tallied 43 assists, 3-for-6 hitting and three block assists.
For Hofstra, sophomore Nikki Kinnier hit 16 kills and senior Taylor Moore added 14, while junior libero Kylee Maneja scooped a match-high 28 digs.
UC Davis struggled early in the match, spotting the Pride six points on service aces in the first-set loss. Moore and Erika Charry combined on a block to put Hofstra up by a 12-10 margin, only to have the Aggies score seven of the next eight to claim a 17-13 lead. The Pride fought back to ties of 20-20, 22-22 and 23-23 down the stretch before Kainoa Ocasek and Kinnier each served aces to close out the set win.
Despite its first-set troubles, the Aggies dominated the second set to tie the match, hitting 19-2-34 for a .500 hitting average and converting a whopping 92 percent of side-out opportunities. Redshirt freshman Valerie Brain had six of her team's 19 kills, including four in the first 14 points of the stanza. Sedlak delivered back-to-back kills and a block assist to extend a 10-6 lead to a 16-7 advantage, then Brain hit two kills to make it 21-11. Hofstra never approached to within closer than eight as UC Davis equalized the match tally.
The Pride suffered offensive troubles in the early part of the third set, committing 10 attack errors by the time they took a timeout with a 16-12 deficit. Sedlak tallied three kills after that break to push the Aggie lead to 20-13, although a run of five unanswered Hofstra points whittled that lead to 22-21. Devon Damelio ended the Pride run with a kill to make it 23-21, then Denny and Whitson put away two more for the final points.
Whitson pounded out six kills with seven digs in the fourth and final set, helping reverse an 8-5 deficit to a 16-12 Aggie lead with some well-placed offspeed shots. Hofstra's Erika Charry served up a tough run to force several free-ball opportunities for her hitters, allowing Anissa Whitney to knock down a kill for the 17-all equalizer before teaming for a block to give the Pride a one-point edge. Sedlak's kill took Charry off the service line and tied the score for the six of nine times in the finale. After a Kinnier kill tied the score at 23-23, Sedlak and Woolway teamed up for a block to establish match point. Whitson promptly scored her 16th kill to end the match for UC Davis.
The Aggies went 12-1 to open their 1993 season and set the record for the best start. The 1991 squad won 17 of its first 19 matches.
UC Davis continues tournament action against Air Force and Seattle in Saturday's portion of the tournament. Seattle swept Air Force in Friday's early match.
