Sept. 14, 2013
OSU 3, UC Davis 2 | UC Davis 3, Toledo 0
PORTLAND, Ore. - Junior middle blocker Victoria Lee tallied 11 kills and a .579 hitting average while sophomore outside hitter Kaylin Squyres matched that kills total to lead UC Davis to a 25-15, 25-17, 25-21 sweep of Toledo at the UP/OSU Challenge women's volleyball tournament at the Chiles Center Saturday.
The Aggies, who went 2-1 in the tournament, improve to 6-5 overall. Earlier in the day, they fell in five sets to Oregon State by scores of 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 22-25 and 15-12
Junior Valerie Brain added another 10 kills after posting a double-double in the morning match with OSU. Junior libero Megan Lancaster led UC Davis on floor defense with 12 digs against Toledo. Senior setter Jenny Woolway also became the eighth Aggie player and first setter in school history to surpass 1,000 for her career.
No Toledo player had more than the eight kills registered by seniors Lauren Rafdal and Jordan Kielty. Middle blocker Dakota Harkins hit seven kills with no errors on 18 swings.
Lee posted a pair of kills in a run of six unanswered Aggie points, breaking up an 11-11 tie and giving UC Davis the lead for good. Lancaster later served up a pair of aces to set the board at 22-13, helping the Aggies jump out to the early match lead. UC Davis brieflly fell behind by a 7-6 deficit early in the second. Lee and senior Devon Damelio each notched a kill and a block assist to help the Aggies score 9 of 10 through the middle of the frame, forging a 17-9 advantage. The Rockets never crept back by less than six for the remainder of the stanza, and UC Davis took a 2-0 match lead to the break.
Squyres hit a pair of kills in a 4-0 run to give the Aggies an 11-7 edge in the third. Harkins and Kielty both helped the Rockets scrape back to an 18-18 tie, and Toledo even took a 20-19 lead on a hitting error. But Squryes responded immediately with a hard crosscourt shot to end the Rocket threat, igniting a 5-1 UC Davis finish.
In Saturday's early match with Oregon State, Brain sparked a key surge that helped UC Davis escape a 20-16 deficit in the fourth set. She hit two kills and served up back-to-back aces down the final stretch to help force the fifth frame.
Libero Megan Lancaster had a career-high 20 digs against the Beavers while Damelio hit 9-2-20 for a .350 hitting average.
Freshman Lila Toner and junior Arica Nassar each had 12 kills for OSU. Nassar also contributed on 11 of her team's 15 total blocks. Sara Almen, who had 11 total kills and a .400 average in the match, hit 5-for-6 in leading the Beavers to a relatively decisive first-set win. Oregon State employed an 8-3 run to pull from a 12-9 lead to a 20-12 cushion, then Almen had three kills in a four-point span to effectively seal the frame.
The second and fourth sets proved to be the most hotly contested, as each featured six ties and at least three lead changes.Brain had three kills to turn a 14-11 deficit into a 20-16 lead in the second frame, then two more to establish a 22-19 footing later on. Nassar scored a pair of kills to help OSU battle back to a 23-23 tie but Katie Quinn tipped the balance for the Aggies. Brain served up the winning point in evening the match at 1-1.
Oregon State rode a 16-8 start to claim the third set without much challenge, then fought back from a 9-6 hole to a 20-16 lead in the fourth. Brain had two kills and freshman Allie Wegener had another to help defensive specialist Kendall Frisoli serve UC Davis to a 21-20 lead. Nassar scored a key solo block to restore the Beavers to a 22-21 lead, only to have the Aggies respond with four straight points. Brain served up aces for the 24th and 25th tallies, and the two teams went to the fifth.
The Beavers jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the fifth, capitalizing on three Aggie attack errors.They held at least a three-point margin until UC Davis fought off two match points to close the gap to 14-12. But Toner was there for the winner, ending the marathon match.
Woolway, who entered the season with 927 digs, now has 1,012 as an Aggie. She needs 21 to surpass former teammate Caroline Mercado for seventh in school history. Woolway became the school's career assists leader earlier this season.
UC Davis returns home to host California on Thursday.
