Oct. 10, 2015
DAVIS, Calif. - Freshman opposite Nicola Moore hit 12 kills on just 16 swings while Kendall Walbrecht contributed a match-high 13 kills to lead UC Davis to a 25-13, 25-23, 25-18 sweep of Cal State Fullerton in Big West Conference women's volleyball match at Upper Hickey Gym Saturday night.
Freshman opposite
Nicola Moore hit 12 kills on just 16 swings while junior
Kendall Walbrecht contributed a match-high 13 kills to lead UC Davis to a 25-13, 25-23, 25-18 sweep of Cal State Fullerton in Big West Conference women's volleyball match at Upper Hickey Gym Saturday night.
The Aggies extend their season-long winning streak to four matches in improving to 9-11 overall, 4-2 in league play. The Titans remain winless at 0-16 for the year and 0-4 in Big West matches.
Moore committed only one error among her attacking numbers to finish the night with a .688 average. Walbrecht had just two hitting errors to close out at .344. Senior Kaylin Squyres tallied 12 kills on a match-high 34 swings to round out a trio of players with double-digit offense. Sophomore middle blocker Aima Eichie added 6-1-15 attacking for a .333 clip while leading the Aggie net defense with four blocks.
At the center of this offense was junior setter Sophia Mar, who recorded 41 assists while chipping in 3-for-4 hitting and four digs. Overall, UC Davis hit a season-best .351 as a team, its highest attack average since assembling a .361 against CSF in November last season.
For the Titans, sophomore outside hitter Kyra Hill notched 11 kills while junior libero Paige Reed totaled 13 digs.
Moore and Eichie were particularly dominant in the opening set, combining for 10-for-10 hitting -- no errors and no "zero" hits -- to help the Aggies roll to a 12-point victory. Eichie provided three block assists during an 8-2 start, then quickly tooled the CSF block to make it 9-3 soon after. The Titans suffered from seven hitting errors in UC Davis' 14-4 lead but settled down for no miscues the rest of the way. However, the Aggies finished as strong as they started, with Moore firing three straight aces down the final stretch.
CSF battled throughout the second set, taking its first two-point lead on a Mackenzie Olson ace at 15-13, then holding that lead at 16-14 on Kyra Smith's slide attack. Hill later sparked a 3-0 run with a line shot and a cross-court kill to put the Titans to a late 22-20 edge. However, UC Davis managed five of the last six points: Moore hit back-to-back kills to equalize. Hill's tip shot missed just wide to give the Aggies a 24-23 set point, then UC Davis libero Malia Bolko's serve sent the Titans scrambling out of system. Hill was forced to swing off balance and off tape, resulting in another hitting error. The Aggies went to the break with a 2-0 match lead.
In the third set, Walbrecht pounded out seven kills on 13 attempts to help UC Davis return to a .385 success rate. She had three of those kills to match the Titans punch-for-punch in an early 6-6 battle. Moore added two kills to give the Aggies a 10-7 edge. Senior middle blocker Jillian Johnson contributed on all parts of the court to extend the lead to 14-9: she smashed a kill near the right pin to put herself at the service line, then came up with a nice dig to set up a Walbrecht kill along the left side. Walbrecht ended up figuring on all three of the Aggies' final three points, scoring two kills and teaming up with Eichie for a block.
Bolko also led UC Davis' floor defense with 13 of the team's 55 total digs in the match.
Saturday's win closes out a 4-0 homestand for the Aggies, who return to action at Hawai'i on Friday. The No. 8 Rainbow Wahine are the only undefeated members of the Big West Conference at 5-0, although they will face second-place Long Beach State on Sunday.
