NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Senior middle blocker Aima Eichie tallied a career-high 10 blocks and posted 10 kills for a double-double while freshman outside hitter Lauren Matias posted 15 kills to lead UC Davis to a four-set, 27-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-20 victory over CSUN in televised Big West women's volleyball play at the Matadome Friday night.

The Aggies improve to 12-10 overall and 5-4 in conference. This is also their second win on ESPN3-aired matches for the year, joining the Oct. 8 victory at Cal State Fullerton. The Matadors slip to 6-15 for the year and extend their losing skid to seven matches in falling to 2-7 in Big West action.

Matias and Eichie, who hit .324 and .350 respecetively, were two of four UC Davis players with double-digit offense. Sophomore hitter Brianna Karsseboom added another 12 kills while senior opposite Kendall Walbrecht hosted 11 kills to go with her seven blocks. As a team, the Aggies posted 16 blocks – their most since stuffing 18 against Cal Poly in last season's finale. For her part, Eichie is the first UC Davis player to perform a kill-block double-double since teammate Kelechi Ohiri posted identical numbers against Southern Utah back on September 9 this year.

Sophomore left-sider Emily Allen narrowly missed another double-double with nine kills against one error on the attack, plus 10 digs on floor defense. She also doubled her previous blocks best with six, thanks to several stints in the middle during later sets. Sophomore libero Malia Bolko enjoyed her third straight match with at least 20 digs, leading all players with 21 gets, with 13 in the first two sets.
For CSUN, senior outside hitter Julie Haake posted a match-high 20 kills with redshirt freshman Melissa Eaglin providing another 11 with six blocks. Sophomore Aeryn Owens posted a double-double of 14 kills and 12 digs.

Matias tallied five kills in the opening set, although four game during CSUN's 10-7 start to the match. The Aggies rattled off three straight to tie the frame at 10-10, then later scored four answered to take their first lead at 15-13. The Matadors battled back behind Haake's three kills, eventually crafting a 19-17 lead, then held set points at 24-23 and 25-24. Walbrecht scored her fourth kill on a deep shot to equalize at 25-25, Matias posted a solo stuff against the Matador slide attack for a 26-25 set point, then an untimely double hit on the CSUN side granted UC Davis the winning point and the first-set win.

CSUN again got off to a good start, establishing leads of 5-1 and later, 11-7. UC Davis battled back to tie the frame on five different occasions but never did gain the lead. After a Matias cross-court kill equalized at 22-22, the Matadors finished with three of the next four. Haake tallied her 14th kill of the match while Owens saw her shot clip the tops of the Aggie fingertips for a tool and the 25th point. The two teams exited the court at the break in a 1-1 match tie.

"The first two sets were battles. I thought they were outplaying us on the defensive end," said UC Davis head coach Dan Conners. "It's something we talked about, and we came out and did a nice job defensively after the break. We outblocked them and our [floor] defense was a lot scrappier."

The Aggies also stepped up their serving game after the 10-minute intermission, said Conners. "We found the passers who were struggling and did a good job at putting pressure on them." As a result, CSUN's hitting averages dropped from .234 and .225 in the first two sets, to .167 and .139 in the third.

Karsseboom scored a pair of kills and Allen figured on two blocks to boost UC Davis to a 6-1 start in the third set. The Aggies led for the entire frame, mostly maintaining a lead of four or five points until Walbrecht and Matias each put down two kills to extend the advantage to 19-12. UC Davis scored the final four points to finish the set: Allen and Karsseboom each had a kill while joining up for a block to close out the 10-point victory. As a team, the Aggies posted 15 kills with just two errors for a .406 success rate in that third frame.

As they had in the first two sets, the Matadors started strong in the fourth with 6-3 lead. UC Davis quickly flipped the script, as Eichie had three consecutive blocks in a string of seven straight points that put the Aggies in front, 10-6. Eichie and Matias each contributed a pair of kills while senior setter Sophia Mar served up two aces in an 8-1 run hat boosted UC Davis to a 19-10 lead. The scrappy CSUN hitters fought back to a 19-14 deficit and later, a 23-20 margin behind a Melissa Eaglin kill. However, the Aggies finished the job as Allen set up match point with a kill then Eichie posted her career-high block for the match's final tally.

With four players with double-figure kills and five players getting at least 20 swings, credit goes to the setting tandem of Mar and sophomore Maddie Merlino. The 6-2 tandem combined for 50 assists. Merlino also served up three of her team's six total aces.

This is the second time this season that UC Davis has played on the virtual airwaves of ESPN3. The Aggies will do so a third time at Long Beach State on Saturday night. First serve is 7 p.m.