Sept. 30, 2015
DAVIS, Calif. - Junior outside hitter Kendall Walbrecht totaled a career-high 19 kills while senior Kaylin Squyres knocked down 10 of her match-high 24 in the fourth set, helping UC Davis to a 28-26, 26-28, 25-14, 25-21 victory over UC Riverside in Big West Conference women's volleyball action at the Pavilion Wednesday night.
The Aggies snap a four-match losing skid, improving to 6-11 for the year and 1-2 in conference play. The Highlanders slip to 6-9 overall and 1-1 in league.
Walbrecht, who moved from right side to left to start the conference season, has set career highs in offense for the second straight match. She scored 15 just four days ago in UC Davis' road match at CSUN. Squyres also had 13 digs, second only to freshman libero Malia Bolko, who finished with 25. Sophomore middle blocker Aima Eichie hit an errorless 5-for-14 with seven blocks. Junior setter Sophia Mar notched 49 assists and had 12 digs.
For UCR, senior outside hitter Helena Peric finished with 18 kills on 46 swings. Junior libero Maddie Hubbell led her team with 24 digs while setter Chelsea Doyle had 14 to go with her 31 assists.
Aggie freshman Nicole Moore had all five of her kills for the match in the first-set win, while Bolko posted eight digs. UC Davis trailed for most of the set, eventually reclaiming the lead on a Bolko ace to make it 21-20. Squyres scored on a tip to provide the Aggies with a 24-23 set point before sophomore Alex Gresham equalized at 24-24. A Peric kill and an UC Davis attack error to flip the script to a 26-25 UCR set point. The Aggies answered that with three straight: Eichie fired down a one set, Squyres delivered a kill from the back row, then Eichie and Walbrecht teamed up for a right-side block for the winner.
The Highlanders gained revenge in the second, this time overcoming an initial 8-4 deficit. They scored four straight to tie the frame at 13-13 when a down ball fell untouched into the Aggie court for a kill. UC Davis reclaimed three-point edges at 20-17 and 22-19, and held set points of 24-23 and 25-24. However, the Highlanders picked up four of the last five points, claiming the win on another Peric kill and an ace from freshman Kristie Alejo. The two teams went to the break locked up at 1-1.
Senior middle blocker Jillian Johnson served up four straight points in propelling UC Davis to a 5-0 lead in the third, including back-to-back aces. Cristina Maietta answered by serving up a 4-0 run of her own to tie the stanza at 5-5. UC Davis then regained the lead, with two Moore blocks crafting a 12-8 advantage. Maietta closed the gap to as close as 16-13, only to have UC Davis finish the set on a 9-1 run. Freshman Emily Allen served up the final three points, coaxing the Highlanders to an errant set for the 24th point, then sending a serve into the short court for the winner.
UCR opened strong in the fourth with an 8-2 lead. That began a strong set for the senior Squyres. She hit back to-back kills to help shrink the Highlander lead to 8-5, and added three in the middle stretch to keep UC Davis afloat at an 18-14 deficit. Eichie and Moore teamed up for a block to tie the proceedings at 21-all, then UCR went out of rotation on a serve receive to give Walbrecht a career-best second ace. Squyres then finished the match with three straight kills, each time tooling the Highlanders' right-side net defense.
Squyres ended up with a 10-1-17 hitting chart in the fourth while Walbrecht had five kills on 10 attempts in the finale. UC Davis hit .314 in that frame to finish the match at .224, while its 10 team blocks helped hold UCR to a .093 success rate.
The Aggies continue a four-match Big West Conference home stand on Saturday against UC Irvine. Match time is 7 p.m.
