Oct. 26, 2013
Final Stats
DAVIS, Calif. - Junior Mary Schroeder hit a career-high 17 kills while junior libero Megan Lancaster posted a personal-best 21 digs to lead UC Davis to a five-set upset of eighth-ranked Hawai'i in front of a season-high crowd of 1,309 in Big West Conference women's volleyball action at the Pavilion Saturday night.
The Aggies, scoring their biggest upset in program history, improves to 12-9 for the year and 4-4 in league play. The Rainbow Wahine fall to 16-4 overall and 5-3 in conference, now having lost back-to-back matches in five sets. UH fell to Cal State Northridge earlier in the week.
This is the second time UC Davis has beaten a team ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I Top 25 poll. The Aggies previously upset then-No. 23 UC Irvine back on October 30, 2009.
Schroeder, whose previous high was 10 kills, committed just four errors on a career-high 43 swings to finish the night at .302. Freshman defensive specialist Kendall Frisoli recorded 14 digs and five service aces, while fellow first-year player Allie Wegener chipped in another 13 digs. Senior Devon Damelio posted a double-double of 13 kills and 13 digs, sophomore Kaylin Squyres hit 8-2-17 for a .353 average and junior Victoria Lee added 9-2-21 and a .333 rate. At the center of the offense was senior setter Jenny Woolway, who tallied 51 assists. More remarkable is that UC Davis played without the services of injured junior Katie Quinn,forcing players like Schroeder into bigger roles than normal.
For Hawai'i, reigning Big West Conference Player of the Year Emily Hartong finished with a match-high 29 kills, 21 digs and a .458 success rate. She posted 15 of those kills in her team's third- and fourth-set victories.
The Aggies rolled to a dominant start in the first set, taking an 18-8 lead after Frisoli served up her first ace. The overall UC Davis serving game largely kept Hartong from getting many swings, although the UH senior eventually took over the offense in rallying her team back to a 21-20 deficit. Hartong hit 5-for-7 in the first set, with four of her kills coming in the Wahine's 12-3 comeback run. However, UC Davis righted its ship when Valerie Brain's tool made it 22-20. Squyres served up an ace for the 23rd point, then Lee delivered the 24th on a slide -- normally Quinn's signature. Hawai'i missed the next shot long for the Aggies' winner.
The Rainbow Wahine incorporated more offense from Hartong in the second, getting six kills on 16 swings, but UC Davis hit .312 as a team in its second-set win. Schroeder scored a kill and a solo stuff to reverse a previous 9-7 deficit into a 12-10 Aggie lead. UH later equalized at 16-16 when the twin towers of Jade Vorster and Nikki Taylor combined on a block, but UC Davis responded with five unanswered behind tough serving by senior Lindsay Dowd. A Schroeder tool set the Aggies to a 24-20 set point, then her fifth kill of the frame spoiled a brief Wahine comeback effort.
The potent Hawai'i offense truly took shape in the third and fourth sets, as Hartong's 15 kills in that stretched aided Wahine hitting averages of .389 and .303, respectively. Lancaster had 10 digs in the third frame, but UC Davis never made more than its initial 2-0 start on back-to-back Frisoli aces. The Aggie freshman helped cut the deficit to as close as 11-10 before Hawai'i responded with a 6-1 run. The 'Bows kept at least a three-point cushion the rest of the way.
Hartong's hitting, and strong serving and net defense guided Hawai'i to a wire-to-wire win in the fourth. Manu-Olevao and junior Sarah Mendoza served up a 7-1 start. Hartong, who was an errorless 8-for-14 in the frame, put down three kills in a six-point span to boost UH to a late 19-14 lead. The Aggies, who struggled to a .027 hitting average in the fourth, committed four straight attack errors after that point to fall into a 24-15 hole. Junior middle Kalei Adolpho finished off the set with her kill, sending the match to its rubber set.
While the Aggies stumbled in the third set then never got their offense going in the fourth, UC Davis responded with a .375 hitting average in the finale. Dowd, who had served Hawai'i into its toughest spots, opened the frame with three straight points. She even scored a kill of her own when she delivered a dump shot to an empty spot in the back corner. UH setter Mita Uiato responded with a four-point run sparked by her own service ace. However, two hitting errors and a rare dig-kill from Lancaster highlighted a 5-0 run that put UC Davis back on top by an 8-4 margin.
The Aggies led by at least four for the remainder of the match. Hartong twice delivered kills to bring UH to within that margin, but UC Davis had an answer each time. Lancaster's jump-float serve scored an ace at the 10-5 mark. Schroeder punctured the Wahine block to make it 12-7. Finally, an off-balance shot resulted in a UH attack sailing long for a 14-9 match point. With the Aggies' zero block preventing Hawai'i to run its offense in system, UC Davis took control of protecting its serve. Dowd set Brain near the left pin, Brain's shot clipped the Wahine block and fell harmlessly to the floor just inside the Hawai'i ten-foot line.
Brain hit 4-for-6 in that final set to finish with 12 digs. Hawai'i, which had improved its attacking average steadily throughout the match, managed a 6-5-24 line for a .042 clip in the fifth.
Hawai'i is the first Top 10-ranked Aggie opponent since early in the 2010 season, when UC Davis lost to 10th-ranked (and eventual NCAA finalist) California at the Molten Classic tournament.
Saturday's match was the annual "Dig Pink" promotion in support of the month-long campaign for breast cancer awareness and research. A giveaway of a pink cinch bag helped contribute to the largest crowd since Long Beach State drew 2,012 fans back on Sept. 27, 2008.
UC Davis remains at home for Big West action against UC Riverside on Thursday and Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
