Nov. 23, 2015 Weekly Release No. 12 | Live Stats | Live Audio
Coming off Saturday night's five-set victory at UC Irvine, the UC Davis women's volleyball closes out its 2015 season at home, hosting Cal Poly in a Big West Conference finale on Tuesday night. Match time at the Pavilion is 7 p.m.
Tuesday's season finale also serves as a stage for the Aggies to honor their senior class of outside hitter
Kaylin Squyres and middle blocker
Jillian Johnson. Johnson has seen significant action filling in during injuries to
Katie Quinn,
Victoria Lee and
Aima Eichie during the past three seasons, but has contributed more frequently as a serving specialist. She posted 14 aces last year and another eight this year, most notably serving up six straight points to pull UC Davis from a 23-19 deficit at CSUN back in September.
Squyres has led the Big West Conference in kills and kills per set for most of the 2015 season, a feat she also achieved as a junior. She enters Tuesday's match needing 26 kills to surpass Jill Changaris for fifth on the Aggie career list. Squyres became the ninth player in UC Davis history to amass 1,000 in a career, and needs 22 to become only the second Aggie to reach 500 in a season. She also enters Tuesday's match with 390 digs, 10 shy of joining Candy Lench (493 in 1990) as the only non-libero to record 400 in a season.
UC Davis hit .260 with 13 team blocks in last weekend's matchup at UCI. Squyres led all players with 21 kills while redshirt freshman Kelechi Ohiri added nine kills and nine blocks in the middle. Aima Eichie enjoyed one of her best offensive nights of the season with 11 kills and only one error for a .476 average.
Cal Poly fell in a three-set sweep against No. 8 Hawai'i in its home finale on Thursday night to move to 19-7 for the season and 11-4 in Big West play. Libero Nicole Kessler, one of three seniors honored prior to the match, highlighted the Mustangs with 16 digs. Freshman Adlee Van Winden, daughter of former Cal Poly standout and Sonoma State head coach Kelly Van Winden, ranks fourth in the conference at 3.91 kills per set. Adlee has won Big West Conference Freshman of the Year seven times in 2015.
A UC Davis win would secure a .500 record and a second consecutive 10-win conference season, good for fourth place in the Big West - three places higher than the preseason poll predicted. Cal Poly looks to avenge the five-set loss from November 7. The Mustangs also hope to achieve their first 20-win season sincen going 22-7 in 2010.
The Senior Night festivities will begin shortly before the regular prematch national anthem and team introductions. Tuesday's match will also air on KDVS 90.3 FM.
