Sep 5, 2013
Final Stats
RENO, Nev. - Junior outside hitter Valerie Brain posted 10 kills while middle blocker Victoria Lee provided a .636 hitting average with four blocks, helping UC Davis secure a 27-25, 25-19, 25-21 sweep of host Nevada in the first match of the Wolf Pack Invitational women's volleyball tournament at Virginia Street Gym Thursday night.
The Aggies pick up their first win of the year, moving to 1-3. The Wolf Pack slips to 0-4 overall.
Brain committed just two hitting errors in 28 swings for a .286 success rate. Lee had eight kills against just one attack error for her .636 clip. Senior Devon Damelio chipped in another nine kills while junior Megan Lancaster, who earned the starting nod at libero, paced UC Davis with 10 digs.
For Nevada, senior Grace Anxo had 10 kills and 24 attempts on offense, junior Tessa Lea'ea provided a match-high eight blocks in the middle, and sophomore Kara Kasser led all players with 11 digs.
UC Davis jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first set, capitalizing on a pair of early Wolf Pack hitting errors. Nevada fought back with four straight points, getting a kill and a lock from sophomore middle Sam Willougby, but the Aggies pushed ahead. Jenny Woolway's ace made it 13-10 later in the frame, then two untimely Wolf Pack service errors combined with back-to-back kills from Brain extended the UC Davis lead to 20-13. Nevada again battled back by scoring nine of the next 11, evening the score at 22-22. Kills from Kaylin Squyres, Lee and Brain provided the Aggies with three different set points, with an errant set in Nevada's side-out conversion lifting them to the two-point margin.
In contrast to the tightly battled opener, the Aggies dominated the second set with a .407 team attack average. Damelio notched two kills and an ace in an 8-2 start. The Wolf Pack enjoyed a 5-1 run to pull to within a 9-7 deficit, but UC Davis responded with a 6-1 run of its own to stretch the lead. Senior setter Lindsay Dowd served up an ace and Lee contributed on consecutive blocks during that span, which set the board at 15-8. Damelio and Brain combined for five kills down the final stretch as the Aggies finished their wire-to-wire set victory.
The third set resembled the first in that UC Davis exploded to a hot start, then Nevada battled back to scores of 13-13 and 17-17. The Wolf Pack took their first lead when Lea'ea and Kathryn Groenweghe teamed up for a block. The Aggies took a timeout, then emerged from the break with a 3-0 run, getting kills from Damelio and Squyres. Nevada never equalized again, suffering a hitting and serving error that gave UC Davis a 24-21 match point. With Lancaster serving, Squyres put down the winner with her ninth kill of the match.
The Aggies continue tournament play with a match against Weber State on Friday afternon. First serve is 3:30 p.m. Fans may tune into a live audio broadcast at www.ucdavisaggies.com.
