Nov. 30, 2013
Final Stats
DAVIS, Calif. - Freshman Allie Wegener enjoyed a breakout performance of 14 kills and 14 digs while senior setter Jenny Woolway and junior libero Megan Lancaster combined for 35 digs, but ultimately the all-around play of Cal State Northridge junior Natalie Allen lifted the Matadors to a five-set, 21-25, 25-9, 18-25, 27-25, 15-5 victory over UC Davis in Big West Conference women's volleyball action at the Pavilion Saturday night.
The Aggies close out their season with a 14-15 overall record and 6-10 mark in league play. The Matadors, among the teams receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 national poll, improve to 23-6 for the year and 6-10 in Big West matches. CSUN finishes as one of three conference tri-champions, along with Hawai'i and UC Santa Barbara.
Previously used as a defensive and serving specialist, Wegener committed just three hitting errors on 29 swings for a .379 average in her first full match as a pin hitter. Woolway led UC Davis with 18 digs to go with 44 assists in her career finale while Lancaster scooped up 17 digs.
Senior Devon Damelio recorded 12 kills on a match-high 45 attempts, and tied her personal best of five service aces. Lancaster and senior Lindsay Dowd each added two aces for the Aggie serving corps. UC Davis received a late spark from another freshman, 6-foot-3 Kendall Walbrecht, who stepped up for career highs of seven kills, 20 swings and four digs.
For CSUN, Allen led all players with 18 kills, four blocks, a pair of aces and a match-high 20 digs. She had six kills plus a solo block in the fifth set alone. Junior middle blocker Sam Kaul pounded out a .524 average on 12-1-21 attacking. Setter Sydney Gedryn provided another 17 digs to supplement her 46 assists. Kaul and junior middle blocker Casey Hinger each had five blocks toward the Matadors' 12.0 total.
UC Davis overcame an early 9-3 deficit in the first, equalizing at 11-11 on a Dowd service ace. CSUN tacked on three immediate points thanks to two Allen kills and an Aggie crosscourt shot that sailed wide, restoring its lead to 14-11. However, the Aggies soon after rattled off seven unanswered to take a 19-16 lead. Junior Katie Quinn posted three block assists in that stretch while Damelio served up two aces. The Matadors later tied the frame at 21-21 thanks to back-to-back Kaul blocks but the Aggies scored four straight to close out the set.
The Aggies briefly held a 4-3 lead in the second set, taking that edge on Damelio's fourth ace of the match. However, Northridge stormed back with 14 straight points to take an insurmountable 17-4 edge. Sophomore Cieana Stinson powered the Matadors both offensively and defensively in that run, scoring three kills and a pair of blocks. Hinger and Gedryn also teamed up for two blocks during that long rally behind the serving of senior Mahina Haina. CSUN improved on its .071 hitting in the first set to a .375 in the second, while UC Davis struggled to minus-.147 effiency. The Aggies did manage a kill until Holland Seymour's kill ended Haina's reign at the service line.
After combining for just 12 kills in the first two sets, UC Davis exploded for 20 in its third-set victory. Wegener, whose previous career high had been eight in a five-set match at UC Santa Barbara, matched that number in the third frame alone. The Aggies had jumped out to an 8-5 start but quickly saw that wither to a 11-9 deficit after a series of attacking errors and net violations. They regained the lead at 12-11 on back-to-back aces by Lancaster, then stretched the margin to four at 18-14.
Lancaster took part in perhaps the most spectacular plays of the match when her diving pancake prevented Allen's tip to fall into the short court. The dig popped just above the tape, then junior middle blocker Victoria Lee backhanded the ball over the net for what seemed to be a free-ball opportunity for the Matadors. But Lee's overpass fell out of the reach of the CSUN defense, and UC Davis had its 20th point of the frame. That unlikely kill sparked the Aggies for a 5-2 finish, closing the set with a 25-18 win and a 2-1 match advantage.
The energized UC Davis won five of the first seven in the fourth set, with Quinn pounding out three kills in the first four points. The Matadors equalized for the first of 16 ties in the frame on a pair of Aggie hitting miscues, then took their first lead on Allen's second ace of the match. Damelio tallied a block, a kill and an ace in a four-point span to give UC Davis an 11-9 edge, then Dowd's diving save helped the Aggies to a mini-run to a 14-11 lead.
CSUN battled back to three ties but did not regain the advantage until Haina's tool and subsequent blast down the line provided the Matadors with leads of 19-18 and 20-19. Northridge later took a 23-21 lead before Quinn and Walbrecht combined for three straight kills in giving the Aggies a 24-23 match point. After Allen converted the side out, Walbrecht and Lee teamed up for a block to make it 25-24 for UC Davis. Allen struck again to tie the set, Britney Graff served up an ace to give CSUN a 26-25 lead, then Haina split the Aggies' back-row defense for the winning kill.
Allen stole the show in the fifth set. She posted four kills with her solo stuff in an 8-0 run that set the board at 10-2. She added another kill then Graff served two more aces to extend the Matador lead to 13-3. Allen tallied her sixth kill of the final set to establish a 14-4 match point, then Hinger closed out the victory two points later.
The match represented the career finale for seniors Damelio, Woolway and Dowd. Damelio's 12 kills moved her past Heidi Knapp and Jen Bryan for sixth on UC Davis all-time career leaderboard at 1,058. Woolway closed out her career with a school-record 4,682 assists, just shy of the Big West's top 10 list. Her 18 digs brought her career total to 1,273, moving her past Kelly Gaudino for fifth in school history. Woolway also remains the only setter in the Aggies' 1,000-dig club. Dowd's two aces will solidify her spot among the conference leaders. She entered the match ranked sixth in the Big West with an average of 0.28 per set.
The team paid tribute to its senior class after the match. Freshman libero Kendall Frisoli performed a self-penned song as a tribute to the trio.
