Oct. 16, 2015
HONOLULU - Junior Kendall Walbrecht tallied team highs of 11 kills and three blocks while freshman opposite Nicola Moore added 6-for-13 hitting, but UC Davis fell in a 25-14, 25-12, 25-17 sweep to No. 8 Hawai'i in a Big West Conference match at the Stan Sheriff Center Friday night.
The Aggies fall to 9-12 for the year and 4-3 in conference matches. The Wahine improve to 17-1 overall and remain undefeated in Big West play at 7-0.
Walbrecht and Moore led UC Davis offensively with their 17 total kills. Frehsman libero Malia Bolko tallied 16 saves while sophomore middle block paired up with Walbrecht on all three of the Aggies' blocks for the match. For Hawai'i, senior outside hitter Tai Manu-Olevao notched 12 kills on 24 swings, while junior Nikki Taylor and senior Olivia Magill each figured on six of their team's 12.5 blocks. UH leads the nation in net defense with 3.40 blocks per set.
The Rainbow Wahine tallied six blocks while hitting 13 kills with just one error for a .480 average in the first-set win. Magill had three of those net stops in a 5-1 start, then added back-to-back to make it 8-2. Taylor hit 4-for-8 in the frame, although she did give her team a scare when she went down with an injury near the final points. She eventually returned to the match in the second set. Walbrecht was a bright spot for UC Davis in the opener with her six kills, while Moore hit 2-for-4.
Hawai'i again opened with five of the first six points in the second set, this time spurred by a kill and an ace from McKenna Granato. Sophomore middle Emily Maglio recorded two blocks on a string of five straight Aggie hitting errors, part of an 11-1 Wahine run that set the board at 19-6. Freshman Brianna Karsseboom, who subbed in for senior Kaylin Squyres late in the frame, tallied a kill and an ace in a brief 3-0 comeback run to 19-9. However, Bows junior Annie Mitchem contributed two block assists to push UH to a 24-11 edge, then scored the winner on a slide to send her team to the break with a 2-0 match lead.
UC Davis matched its hosts early in the third, taking its first lead of the match when Moore's kill established a 7-6 lead. Walbrecht and Eichie combined for a block two points later to keep the Aggies up by one. Hawai'i reclaimed the lead on a Taylor kill at 9-8. Squyres and redshirt freshman Kelechi Ohiri each equalized with kills, then Bolko tied the set at 13-13 when her serve short-hopped Manu-Olevao for an ace. However, the Wahine did not let the Aggies take back the advantage, pulling ahead to a 19-15 lead on a pair of Mitchem kills. Manu-Olevao had four kills down the final stretch, including a tool that established a 24-17 set point.
Friday's match marked a welcome return for Ohiri, who had missed nine straight matches due to injury. The redshirt freshman ranks among the top five blockers in the Big West Conference. In fact, each of the league's top five block leaders were represented in the match: Magill, Maglio and Taylor hold the top three slots, Eichie and Ohiri the next two.
UC Davis returns to action at UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton on October 23 and 24.
