Oct. 5, 2013
Final Stats
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Junior middle blocker Katie Quinn hit .467 with a career-high 10 blocks, senior opposite Devon Damelio tallied 11 kills with another eight stuffs, and junior opposite Mary Schroeder enjoyed a career-best offensive showing, all to help UC Davis hold on to a 25-21, 18-25, 25-14, 26-24 win over UC Riverside in a Big West Conference women's volleyball match at the Student Rec Center Arena Saturday night.
The Aggies improve to 9-7 overall and 1-2 in conference matches. The Highlanders fall to 1-14 for the year and remain winless at 0-3 in Big West play.
Damelio and junior Valerie Brain each had a team-best 11 kills, Quinn had eight kills with just one error, and freshman Allie Wegener stepped up with a career-best 14 digs. However, the standout performers for UC Davis was the overall net defense, which combined for 14 team blocks; and Schroeder, who turned in a 10-0-21 attacking chart for a .476 average.
Freshman outside hitter Cristina Maietta led UCR with 22 kills on 54 swings while fellow rookie Maddie Hubbell led all players with 20 digs.
Quinn hit 3-for-3 and Damelio added five kills in the Aggies' first set win. The two combined for back-to-back blocks in a 5-0 run that flipped a 10-7 deficit into a 12-10 lead. Quinn supplied two more kills to help extend that edge to 17-13 before UCR scrapped its way back to a 17-16 deficit. Schroeder answered with her first kill on the next point, then Damelio and sophomore Kaylin Squyres followed with another block to push the margin back to three. Damelio and Quinn teamed up for yet another stuff at 22-18 before the Highlanders responded with three of the next four points. The Aggies called a timeout to settle down, then Woolway and Damelio put away kills to kickstart a 1-0 match lead.
After a .387 hitting average in the first set, UC Davis stumbled to .161 in the second. Schroeder was a bright spot in the frame with her 4-0-7 attacking numbers, but Maietta paced the Highlanders with six kills on 11 attempts. Another UCR freshman, Nae Bender, chipped in a block assist and a service ace to help her team break a 9-9 tie into a 14-10 lead. The Highlanders never trailed for the remainder of the set, knotting up the match at 1-1 going into the locker rooms.
The Aggies turned in their most dominating performance in the third, committing just one hitting error while totaling three aces and four blocks. Junior libero Megan Lancaster served up two of the aces, both of which came in a stretch of 10 unanswered points that erased an 11-10 UCR lead into a 21-11 UC Davis edge. Brain, Quinn and Damelio combined for 10 kills with no errors in the third frame.
The two teams battled to 10 ties and six lead changes in the fourth-set thriller. Schroeder continued her strong offense with 4-0-8 attacking stats while Maietta lifted the Highlanders with her five kills. Schroeder had two of those kills amidst a 5-0 run that put UC Davis up 12-8. However, UCR eventually fought back to tie the set at 16-16, then pulled ahead when Ashley Cox and Tyler Dorsey teamed up for a block. Dorsey struck again later with a kill to give the Highlanders an 18-17 lead but that proved to be their last time on top. Schroeder hit back-to-back kills to propel UC Davis to a 22-19 edge. Maietta did the same to erase a 24-22 deficit into a 24-24 tie. A key Riverside serving error put senior Lindsay Dowd at the line with a 25-24 match point, then Brain and Quinn spoiled the Highlander side-out hopes with the team's 14th and final block
A reserve opposite who has previously seen time when the Aggies employed a 6-2 system, Schroeder's previous bests heading into this season had been seven kills and 10 swings against Long Beach State last year. She had eight kills on 21 attempts at LSU in August this season.
UC Davis returns home to host UC Irvine for a rare Thursday night match. First serve is 7 p.m. at the Pavilion.
