Oct. 31, 2015
DAVIS, Calif. - Freshman outside hitter Emily Allen more than doubled her previous career high with 13 kills on 35 swings while senior Kaylin Squyres posted team bests of 19 kills and 17 digs, but Long Beach State ultimately silenced a late Aggie comeback, defeating UC Davis in a four-set, 25-10, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20 Big West Conference women's volleyball showdown at the Pavilion Saturday night.
The Aggies move to 11-14 overall and 6-5 in league play. The 49ers, among the teams receiving votes in the AVCA national Top 25 poll, improves to 19-5 for the season and 9-5 in Big West matches.
Allen's previous offensive highs had been six kills and 19 attempts at UC Riverside last week; she hit 7-1-11 in the third-set win alone. Squyres had six kills in each of the second and fourth frames to help complete her double-double. Redshirt freshman
Kelechi Ohiri finished with 4-for-10 on the attack and six blocks on net defense.
For LBSU, reigning Big West Conference Player of the Year Jenelle Hudson ran an offense with four players with double-digit kills: junior outside hitter Nele Barber had 16, sophomore middle blocker Ashley Murray had 13, while freshmen Payton Grahovac and Carly Beddingfield each tallied 11. Hudson finished with 46 assists while notching six kills, two aces and 15 digs of her own.
UC Davis struggled to nine hitting errors in a rocky first set, struggling to its lowest single-set total of the year in the 25-10 opener. However, the Aggies adjusted from a 5-1 system to a 6-2 the rest of the way, holding their attacking miscues to just four in the second and one in the third. They fought the 49ers to eight ties in the second frame, with Squyres' offspeed shot falling in at 22-22. Barber scored the go-ahead on a tool and Hayley Benson came up with a solo block to establish a 24-22 set point. Hudson's off-balance shot near the right pin fellow in front of the UC Davis back row for the winner.
Buoyed by their strong performance in the second, the Aggies stormed to a .467 average in the third set. They overcame a 13-10 deficit with some help from a pair of Long Beach hitting errors, then Ohiri served up her first collegiate ace in a 4-1 run that ended with UC Davis holding a 17-16 advantage. Squyres' step-out shot later made it a two-point edge at 20-18, and Moore's tool on the right side kept the Aggie lead at 22-20. A rare attack error by Barber gave UC Davis a 23-20 lead. Junior Kendall Walbrecht and Allen each delivered crosscourt kills to close out the third in the Aggies' favor.
Long Beach State recovered to take control of the fourth set, running out to an 11-4 lead. UC Davis battled back to within three, with Ohiri and freshman opposite Nicola Moore teaming up for a block to start a comeback run to 14-11. Allen and Walbrecht later scored kills to cut the deficit to two, and UC Davis trailed by just a 18-16 margin after a 49er serve stalled at the net. However, LBSU scored four of the next five to largely seal the win: a Hudson tip, a Beddington line blast and a block by Grahovac and Murray set the board at 21-16. The 49ers maintained at least a three-point cushion the rest of the way to avoid a fifth set.
Grahovac and Beddingfield each had four kills in the final frame to keep the Beach in front. Squyres managed six kills and six digs in the fourth, but the Aggies' side-out conversion fell from 73 percent in their third-set win the just 58 percent in the fourth.
Aggie libero Malia Bolko and setter Sophia Mar provided double digits on floor defense with dig totals of 13 and 12.
UC Davis returns to action for its annual coastal trip to UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
