Nov. 14, 2016

Weekly Release No. 13

LAST WEEK
Tuesday, Nov. 8 - at UC Riverside (W, 3-1)
Saturday, Nov. 12 - No. 14 HAWAI'I (L, 0-3)

UPCOMING
Saturday, Nov. 19 - UC IRVINE, 7 p.m. | StatBroadcast | Live Audio
Tuesday, Nov. 22 - at Cal Poly, 7 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Audio

NOTES
WEEK 12 RECAP: UC Davis (13-14, 6-8) split its week of action, taking down UC Riverside in four sets on Election Day, then falling in straight sets to 14th-ranked Hawai'i on Saturday... The Aggies posted 16.0 team blocks against the Highlanders, their highest for the 2016 conference season... Sophomore MB Kelechi Ohiri had nine of those while Aima Eichie (5), Brianna Karsseboom (5), Kendall Walbrecht (4), Emily Allen (4) and Lauren Matias (4) figured on at least four each... Eichie was the team's offensive standout for the week, hitting 22-3-37 (.514) in the two matches... Impressively, the pre-med senior hit .522 (14-2-23) against Hawai'i, which owns the nation's No. 18 block at 2.74 per set... The Aggies actually outblocked the Wahine, 5-4, becoming the first team to achieve such a feat in 17 straight matches... Sophomore Malia Bolko was another UC Davis highlight against UH, tallying 22 digs... She had 40 for the week, averaging 5.71 gets per set.

CHASING HISTORY, PART 1: Eichie hit .500 or better in back-to-back weekends for the first time in her career, raising her season average back to .346 (134-40-272)... With only two matches remaining on the 2016 schedule, this puts her on pace to crack the school's single-season top five, as only two players have hit higher: Victoria Lee's .403 in 2013 and Betsy Sedlak's .395 in 2010... Eichie's career average rose to .283, putting her on track to rank fourth in Aggie history.

CHASING HISTORY, PART 2: Ohiri tallied nine block assists on Tuesday than another three against Hawai'i on Saturday, lifting her season stats to 118 total and a 1.31 bps average... The redshirt sophomore is now ahead of Mia Iverson's 1998 school record of 1.30... If Ohiri holds that pace, she will vie for the school top five for total blocks... She needs 12 to pass Kaersten Hill and current assistant coach Katie Quinn, who share fourth on the school list at 129.

RANKINGS: Ohiri remains second among Big West Conference blockers with her 1.31 per-set average... Eichie jumped three spots to No. 4 in hitting percentage with her .346 clip, while Ohiri is five places back at .285... Bolko held at No. 8 in digs (3.74), although her 4.40 average in conference matches is now tied for third... As a team, UC Davis ranks second in digs (15.63) and opponent hitting (.205)... The Aggies moved ahead of Long Beach State in the latter category, holding UC Riverside to .045 and Hawai'i to "only" .261... The latter feat may sound like faint praise, but the powerful Wahine attack had gone .338 in the seven previous matches.

UP NEXT: UC Davis hosts UC Irvine for its final home match of the year on Saturday, then turns around with a short week for a Tuesday night season finale at Cal Poly on Nov. 22... Live stats for the Aggie-Anteater matchup are available via StatBroadcast... David "DK" Kim of KDVS will provide live play-by-play on Stretch Internet... Cal Poly has live stats on Presto while offering its own Stretch Internet feed… Links are listed above.

SENIOR CLASS: Saturday's home finale will serve as a Senior Night finale for four Aggies: setter Sophia Mar, opposite Kendall Walbrecht, outside hitter Allie Wegener and middle blocker Aima Eichie... Mar played just three years for UC Davis, having transferred from UConn prior to her sophomore season... Eichie is a junior by eligibility but a senior academically... Walbrecht and Wegener are both fourth-year Aggies although Wegener has missed all but one set due to injury this year... The team will honor all four in prematch ceremonies.

With four straight losses, UC IRVINE (10-17, 5-8) sits a half-match behind UC Davis in the conference standings... The Anteaters lost in straight sets to No. 14 Hawai'i on Thursday, managing just 28 kills and committing 21 attack errors (14 on Wahine blocks)... UCI own potent attackers at each pin, namely 6-foot-3 OH Victoria Dennis (3.56 kps, .251 hitting) and 6-0 OPP Harlee Kekauoha (2.49 kps, .208 average)... MB Makayla Wolfe has averaged 1.14 blocks per set, thanks mostly to 12 stuffs against Long Beach State on Oct. 28.

CAL POLY (17-8, 10-4) has won four straight matches and the last eight sets to move into third place in the Big West race... Senior OPP Taylor Gruenewald hit 8-0-16 (.500) in Friday's sweep of UC Riverside, then exploded for 20-2-31 (.581) in Saturday's rout of Cal State Fullerton... She ranks second in the Big West in hitting (.367)... Sophomore Katherine Brouker totaled 32 digs in six sets last weekend... The Mustangs also have two of the league's top 10 in kills: sophomore Adlee Van Winden (4th, 3.75) and junior Raeann Greisen (7th, 3.43)

HEAD COACH DAN CONNERS QUOTES:
"Riverside is a good team that plays good defense. They just beat Santa Barbara for the second time. We had a good plan going into that match and we weren't perfect in our execution, but we played hard. It was a challenge due to traveling down that morning and playing on a Tuesday night. Plus, this was an emotional Election Day and that did have an effect on the psyche of this team."

"We showed up for Hawai'i but they're more physical. You've got 6-foot-4 going against 5-foot-8, or 6-5 against 5-10. They have some big, physical players. They have two rotations with their 6-4 pin blockers and a 6-5 middle. When I look back at our match at Hawai'i, we didn't score anything from the service line. Here, we scored 29 percent. It isn't good enough but it's definitely an improvement over our first match. I thought of defense did a nice job. We put pressure on them and made them play the whole match, and we didn't let down when they got leads. I felt like we battled."

On the senior class: "You can't just create experience. You have to live through things. You live through different moments on the court. The seniors have that experience. You understand that each match can turn one way or another, so you have to be consistent. That's something that the younger class is learning, and having the senior class out there has been a calming factor for the group." [see below for more on the 2016 seniors]

CONNERS ON THE SENIOR CLASS:
"I feel sad that Allie didn't get a chance to finish out her career playing the game. She went down with that injury in the first match of the year. It's part of sports, and something you have to deal with, but I definitely feel bad for her. She's just an amazing kid and a true competitor. She has been at everything we've done this year and been incredibly supportive, doing whatever she can to help the group. She's one who keeps it light in stressful situations, and she's also one to hold people accountable. Allie is definitely a personality we'll miss."

"Kendall was a first-team all-conference player last year, and she had to come back from being injured, which is a challenging thing. It's not the senior year expectation she had going in, but she has become one of the better blockers in the conference on the right. We'll have to figure out how to replace her physicality. She's an incredible blocker and she hits the ball very high."

"Aima's growth, since I've been here, has been tremendous. She continues to work hard and work through her injuries, which is always there. She wants to compete and win, she loves getting after it. When she's on, the team can jump on her back and go with her. Aima is someone we'll definitely miss. She has learned how to hit very efficiently and she puts up a nice block, and she's gotten to the point where she can do that against one of the best teams in the country. Her improvement over her career has been tremendous, and her personality is positive. When she's enjoying the game, it's very infectious."

"Soph was the first recruit I brought in here. I had never seen her play before she committed. From her first day, she has been an incredible asset. She has tons of energy and loves this game so much. She is constantly motivated and showing our younger players what it means to work hard at every practice. She brings a good positive energy to every practice. The enthusiasm she brings to the game has been really nice to have. It has been a lot of fun coaching her."