Nov. 7, 2016

Weekly Release No. 12

LAST WEEK
Thursday, Nov. 3 - UC SANTA BARBARA (L, 2-3)
Saturday, Nov. 5 - CAL POLY, (L, 2-3)

THIS WEEK
Tuesday, Nov. 8 - at UC Riverside, 7 p.m. | Live Stats
Saturday, Nov. 12 - HAWAI'I , 7 p.m. | StatBroadcast | Live Audio

NOTES
WEEK 11 RECAP: UC Davis (12-13, 5-7) lost back-to-back five-set matches against the league's Central Coast crew... The Aggies won the first set in each, erasing a 2-0 match lead in Thursday's setback against UC Santa Barbara, then seeing a 2-1 edge diminish in Friday's loss to Cal Poly... The close battles give some encouragement to the Aggies, especially given that Cal Poly is the Big West's No. 2 team in the RPI rankings at No. 56 – behind No. 38 Hawai'i and 10 places ahead of Long Beach State... UCSB is right up there at No. 70, per Monday's most recent rankings..."We have to keep that in mind that we're right at that level. We just have to learn how to finish," said head coach Dan Conners [see the quotes section below for more comments].

Sophomore MB Kelechi Ohiri had a strong overall weekend, hitting 19-5-39 (.359) with 12 total blocks... Her counterpart in the middle, senior Aima Eichie, tied her career high with 10 stuffs against the Mustangs on Saturday... Senior OH/OPP Kendall Walbrecht narrowly missed her kills career best with a 21-3-50 (.360) offensive chart against Cal Poly... As a team, UC Davis hit .241 on Saturday while the 15.0 team blocks helped cool the Mustang average to .230... It marks the first time all season that the Aggies have hit for a higher percentage but lost the match... UC Davis also kept UCSB's servers in relative check: the Gauchos lead the Big West and rank 20th nationally in aces (1.66 per set), but only managed four against the Aggie passing corps.

RANKINGS: Ohiri held at No. 2 among Big West Conference blocks leaders at 1.28 per set, behind only Hawaii's Emily Maglio (1.35)... Ohiri and Eichie also rank eighth (.291) and seventh (.319), respectively, in hitting percentage... Libero Malio Bolko scooped up 41 digs in last weekend's matches, moving her up to No. 8 (3.59) on the league leaderboard... Bolko ranks sixth (4.21) if counting only Big West matches... As a team, UC Davis ranks second in digs (15.60), third in opponent hitting (.210).

UP NEXT: UC Davis has its only road-home split week of the year, and its first of two Tuesday night matches... The Aggies travel to UC Riverside for an Election Day match, then return home to host No. 14 Hawai'i on Saturday night... Live stats are available via SideArm on Tuesday, StatBroadcast on Saturday... David "DK" Kim will also provide his usual audio play-by-play via StretchInternet… Links are above.

HOMETOWN INTEREST: Freshman Jackie Graves is the lone Aggie from the Inland Empire, hailing from Pomona, California, and Diamond Ranch HS... Graves has seen limited action during conference play, stepping in for a few rotations at Hawai'i and Long Beach State.

UC RIVERSIDE (7-16, 2-9) snapped a five-match losing skid with a 3-0 sweep of Cal State Fullerton on Friday night... Freshman OH Mickayla Sherman posted 12 kills, 12 digs and six aces in the win... She ranks 10th in the Big West with 3.17 kills per set while senior libero Maddie Hubbell rates fifth in digs at 4.25... Hubbell became the Highlanders' all-time career digs leader during the team's road match at UC Davis on October 20.

HAWAI'I (18-5, 11-1) has won six straight matches and 16 consecutive sets, the latter streak dating back to a 26-24 third set in the 3-1 victory against UC Irvine... The overall win streak includes 3-0 sweeps of Long Beach State and CSUN last weekend... Senior MB Annie Mitchem hit 13-0-21 (.619) against the 49ers then followed with 12-2-26 (.385) attacking against the Matadors, earning her Big West Conference Player of the Week honors... The 'Bows lead the league in hitting (.273), opposing hitting (.153) and blocks (2.72)... Senior Nikki Taylor leads the Big West individually with 4.53 kills per set despite not breaking double figures in that category in three straight matches.

HEAD COACH DAN CONNERS QUOTES:
"I think what the team needs to understand is that the margins between winning and losing are very thin. It's making one play as an off blocker. It's locating your set one more time. That can switch it from being 25-23 to 23-25. The margins are thin so it's about being competitive enough that you're willing to be focused at those times, and not letting the pressure of the situation inhibit you from performing."

"UC Riverside is very tough at home. They beat Santa Barbara pretty handily at home earlier this year [on October 14]. We've got to make sure that we come out to compete hard. If we don't, they will jump all over us."

On Hawai'i: "I just want to go out and compete at our best, close to our potential, and not let the opponent on the other side dictate how we play. They are just a very balanced team with a great opposite that they can set in any rotation. They play good defense and put a lot of pressure on you. I haven't put a lot of thought into Hawaii because our focus is on Riverside, but I'll hit Hawaii hard when we get back on Wednesday."