Oct. 3, 2015
DAVIS, Calif. - Senior outside hitter Kaylin Squyres led all players with 25 kills, including 17 in the third and fourth sets, to propel UC Davis to a 15-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-14 victory over UC Irvine in Big West Conference women's volleyball action at the Pavilion Saturday night.
The Aggies improve to 7-11 overall and even their conference ledger to 2-2. The Anteaters slip to 7-9 for the year, 1-3 in Big West play.
Squyres committed just one error on 33 swings in the final two sets after managing just seven kills with five attack errors in the initial two frames. Junior Kendall Walbrecht had 13 kills on 38 attacks to aid the offensive cause. Freshman libero Malia Bolko tallied 17 digs while junior setter Sophia Mar recorded 44 assists, 10 digs and a pair of aces.
For UCI, freshman Harlee Kekauoha had 12 kills, junior Victoria Dennis added another 11, and senior middle blocker Ella Rosenfeld recorded nine kills, a .304 average and eight of her team's 16.5 blocks.
UC Davis committed 14 hitting errors in the first set, including six against the `Eater block. The first seven errors allowed UCI to craft an 11-6 start, then Kekauoha posted a pair of stuffs and a kill in a 6-0 run that extended the Anteater lead to 10-11. In all, Irvine finished on an 11-4 run, with Kekauoha hitting 4-for-6.
The Aggies righted the ship to start the second, as four different players scored kills to open with a 9-4 edge. Dennis had a pair of kills to bring UCI back to within a 9-8 deficit, only to have UC Davis score seven of the next nine. Walbrecht and junior Allie Wegener managed kills out of system, then sophomore Aima Eichie sent back a free ball to make it 15-10. Rosenfeld later posted four straight blocks to tie the frame at 18-18, then hit a kill to give UCI a brief 19-18 lead. UC Davis answered with a 5-1 run to reclaim a 23-20 edge. Bolko scooped up a spectacular pancake dig that enabled Walbrecht to score the 22nd point. Squyres came out of the back row to put down the 23rd. Then Lauren Jackson and Eichie each swatted one sets for the final two points, tying the match at 1-1 as the teams went to the break.
The momentum continued to shift toward the Aggies in the third. Walbrect posted two kills and a service ace in a 7-2 start. Mar won a joust for a solo block to forge a 14-10 advantage, then combined with Jackson for a block to make it 15-10. Once again, UCI whittled away at that deficit, with Dennis scoring a kill and solo block amidst a 6-2 comeback to a 17-17 tie. However, Squyres and Walbrecht began to pick apart the Anteaters' right-side block, combining for four tools down the final stretch. In particular, Squyres had six kills in the final eight Aggie points.
As if erasing the memories of its minus-.071 hitting in the first, UC Davis tallied 15 kills with just two errors to hit .361 in a dominating fourth set. Squyres hit two more kills and freshman Nicola Moore had a kill and a block during a run of seven unanswered, turning a 6-2 deficit in a 9-6 lead. UCI briefly came back to cut the margin to one before Squyres added two more kills in extending the advantage to 13-9. The Aggies closed out the match with seven straight to break loose from an 18-14 edge.
UC Irvine's hitting diminished from .318 in the first to .162, .143 and .087 in the three losses, respectively. Bolko played a part in containing the attack with five digs in each of the second, third and fourth sets.
UC Davis continues a four-match homestand on Thursday against UC Santa Barbara.
