Oct. 24, 2016

Weekly Release No. 10

LAST WEEK
Thursday, Oct. 20 - UC RIVERSIDE (W, 3-1)
Saturday, Oct. 22 - CAL STATE FULLERTON (W, 3-1)
THIS WEEK
Friday, Oct. 28 - at CSUN, 7 p.m. | ESPN3 | Live Stats (Sidearm)
Saturday, Oct. 29 - at Long Beach State, 7 p.m. | ESPN3 |

NOTES
WEEK 9 RECAP: UC Davis (11-10, 4-4) posted four-set wins against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton at home on Thursday and Friday, respectively... Sophomore libero Malia Bolko claimed Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors, thanks to 47 total digs (5.88 per set)... Senior OPP Kendall Walbrecht challenged for the league's overall POW honors due to her two-match totals: 38 kills and a .403 average... Walbrecht posted a career-high 22 kills in Saturday's victory over the Titans... Sophomore MB Kelechi Ohiri hit 8-2-12 (.500) with eight block assists against CSF for her best net defensive performance since posting 10 stuffs against Southern Utah on Sept. 9... Sophomore OH Brianna Karsseboom enjoyed one of her best offensive matches of the year against the Highlanders: 13-2-23 (.478).

Bolko's Defensive POW is the first of the 2016 season and the third of her career... She first won the honor on October 5, 2015, thanks to 42 digs against UC Riverside and UC Irvine... A month later, Bolko totaled 42 digs in a weekend set vs. UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly to claim the award on Nov. 9... Her 47 digs toward Monday's award -- 23 vs. UCR, 24 vs. CSF -- ties her highest for a single weekend... Bolko had 47 in 12 sets in the 2015 season-opening tourney at Colorado State, then matched that total in 11 frames a week later at George Washington... She also surrendered no aces in 62 serves received...

In fact, the Aggies allowed just four aces in 161 serves as a team last weekend for a .975 success rate... That lifts the team's receiving percentage to .953, the best in records dating back to 2007 (when the NCAA began requiring serve-receive stats)... Note: official serve-receive stats do not indicate the quality of passing -- e.g. standard 0-3 scale -- but only whether the player/team yielded an ace.

RANKINGS: Ohiri swapped places with Hawaii's Nikki Taylor for second in the Big West in blocks (86 in 66 sets, 1.303 per set), thanks to her 13 total last week... She is also now on pace to break Mia Iverson's 1998 school record of 1.3023 (112 in 86 sets)... L/DS Heather Reed, who has sat out the last four matches due to injury, ranks 2nd in digs at 4.39 per... Bolko has entered the Top 10, moving into a tie for 8th with LBSU's Nele Barber (3.50)... Senior Aima Eichie (.369) and sophomore Lauren Jackson (.362) rank 4th and 5th, respectively, among the conference's hitting leaders... As a team, UC Davis ranks 2nd in both digs (16.08) and opponent hitting (.203)

UP NEXT: UC Davis returns to the road for a pair of Big West Conference matches, both of which will be televised on the virtual airwaves of ESPN3 (links above)... The Aggies travel to CSUN for the team's first Friday conference match of the year, then head down the coast to Long Beach State on Saturday... Both matches begin at 7 p.m.

HOMETOWN INTEREST: Senior Kendall Walbrecht will be the closest to home during the weekend, with a mere 24 miles of driving distance separating her hometown of La Cañada from the CSUN campus... The LCHS alumna hit a career-high .538 in her last trip to the Matadome, during last year's Sept. 26 conference match.

CSUN (6-14, 2-6) has lost six straight matches since its five-set win at UC Davis back on Sept. 24... The Matadors fell in four sets to both Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara last weekend... Sophomore OH Aeryn Owens totaled 37 kills and 27 digs in the two setbacks... She ranks 8th in the Big West with 3.49 kps... The previous meeting between the Aggies and Matadors marked the sixth five-set match in the last eight pairings in the series history.

In contrast to CSUN, LONG BEACH STATE (15-7, 9-0) has gone undefeated in Big West play dating back to its visit to the Pavilion on Sept. 22... Most recently, the 49ers outlasted UC Santa Barbara in five sets then Cal Poly in four during the annual Central Coast road trip... Nele Barber hit 22-3-43 (.442) with 12 digs on Friday, then 20-3-49 (.347) with 16 digs the following night... Barber ranks 3rd in the Big West at 3.92 kills per set, while her 3.50 digs per set is 8th in the league and tops among front-row players.

HEAD COACH DAN CONNERS QUOTES:
"I think our competitive mindset was more prevalent this weekend than it had been in the past few weeks, and it was better against Riverside than it was on Saturday against Fullerton. So it's about how to make it a consistent thing. It was there when we rallied back in the fourth set [against CSF] but it's not where it needs to be."

"If we're not competing hard and playing as a unit against Northridge, they'll beat us. That's what happened when we played them here. Long Beach has that mindset. It's not an issue for them: they always compete and work. They may not always execute but they will always compete hard, so if you're not matching them there, they'll get you. They're 9-0 and they took down Hawai'i. They had a tough pre-conference when they had a couple of kids out but they have found their stride. They're playing really well."

"We're not necessarily comparing ourselves to somebody else or trying to match somebody else's competitive nature. We just have to find what we do well, and play within ourselves. We need to compete to the best of our own individual abilities, understanding that other teams are doing the same. We have to set high standards for ourselves as individuals, and be as competitive as we can individually. I thought we were very competitive in the Boise tournament, and against Santa Clara and Portland State. I thought we had that against Riverside and it was in and out against Irvine. We've definitely had that competitive feeling, but with the nature our injuries and the lineup changes because of it, our focus has shifted. It has been getting comfortable with the new players and new systems on the court. Hopefully we can get back to that, and stay healthy."