Sept. 30, 2011
Final Stats
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Junior middle blocker Jennifer Keddy scored 16 kills and hit a match-high .519 to lead Cal Poly to a 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 sweep of UC Davis in a Big West Conference women's volleyball match at Mott Gym Friday night.
The Aggies fall to 16-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play, ending their winning streak at 11 matches. The Mustangs, the Big West's No. 2 preseason pick, moves to 6-10 for the year and 1-2 in conference.
Devon Damelio and Valerie Brain each had nine kills to lead UC Davis offensively, while junior libero Caroline Mercado led all players with 16 digs. Senior middle blocker Betsy Sedlak had seven kills on 16 swings for a .308 average on offense, plus five block assists on net defense. As a team, the Aggies hit a season-low .116, committing 27 attack errors.
Besides Keddy's output, Kristina Graven offered a double-double of 10 kills and 10 digs. Cal Poly outblocked its guest by a 10-8 margin and hit .210 overall, including .303 in the first set.
Keddy tallied two blocks and a kill to help the Mustangs claim seven of the final nine points in the first set. UC Davis had recovered from a 5-2 hole to take a 13-11 lead on Katie Denny's ace. Keddy had a kill and block in a 3-0 run to put Cal Poly back to a 14-13 lead. The Aggies managed to tie matters at 15-15 on a Damelio kill and 18-18 on a Mustang attack error, then briefly took a 19-18 lead on Brain's kill. But Molly Pon and Crystal Dedes combined on a stuff on the next point, sparking Cal Poly's finish.
As in the first set, Cal Poly rallied late to snipe a late UC Davis lead in the second set. Sedlak scored two block assists in a run of four unanswered to erase the Mustangs' 8-6 start. The two teams battled to four more ties until Denny's kill put UC Davis out to a 18-16 advantage. However, the Aggies committed a pair of hitting errors to allow Cal Poly to take a 19-18 lead, never regaining the edge. Damelio posted back-to-back kills in turning a 23-21 deficit to a 23-23 standoff, but Kristina Graven answered with two kills for the final two points before the break.
UC Davis never managed to seize the lead in the third set, but Damelio managed two kills and a block to wipe a 10-7 Mustang start to an 11-11 tie. But the Mustangs scored four of the next five to take the lead for good. Graven scored a kill for a 14-12 edge then combined with Dedes on a block for the 15th point. Damelio struck again to cut the deficit to two, then Denny and backup setter Lindsay Dowd teamed up for a block to reduce the Mustang lead to 16-15. However, UC Davis never approached any closer despite three Allison Whitson kills down the stretch. Keddy also hit three more kills after that juncture, while Catie Smith posted a kill and a service ace in completing the Mustang sweep.
Whitson had eight kills in the match, bringing her career total to 997. She looks to become the seventh player in school history to amass 1,000 career kills.
The Aggies continue their Central Coast road trip with a Big West match at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. Match time at the Thunderdome is 7:30 p.m.
