RENO, Nev. - Sophomore outside hitter Emily Allen followed up her career-high Friday performance with 35 kills in eight total sets on Saturday, but UC Davis women's volleyball ultimately lost both ends of its Day 2 doubleheader at the Wolf Pack Tournament. The Aggies lost in straight sets, 25-15, 27-25, 25-19, to Gonzaga in their morning match; then fell to host Nevada in a 23-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-17, 15-11 marathon in the nightcap.

UC Davis moves to 4-5 for the season.

Allen, who posted her program's first 30-kill match in more than a decade, recorded 18 kills in three sets against the Zags then followed with another 17 versus the Wolf Pack. She finished with 65 kills and 38 digs for the weekend, averaging 5.00 and 2.92 in those respective categories. Sophomore opposite Lauren Jackson also stepped up with a big match, hitting 11 kills with just one error for a .526 average. Jackson also had four blocks at the net while redshirt freshman Heather Reed led the floor defense with 25 digs.
Nevada senior Madison Morell led all players with 26 kills while middle blockers Kathryn Groenweghe and Shayla Hoeft combined for 25 kills and a .488 average.

UC Davis had to rally late to win the first set after having a 9-5 start dissipate to as much as a 15-11 Nevada lead. Junior outside hitter Madison Foley had two kills and served up an ace in that comeback run. The Wolf Pack held a 23-21 edge after Morrell converted a side out, but Karsseboom answered back to put sophomore setter Maddie Merlino at the service line. Allen then fired three straight kills to snipe the set for the Aggies.

Freshmen Jackie Graves and Lauren Matias teamed up on a block and sophomore Malia Bolko served an ace to propel UC Davis to a 4-1 start to the second, but Nevada answered with five straight points, with back-to-back blocks by Groenweghe and freshman Ayla Fresenius highlighting the run. The Aggies managed to trim the deficit to two points on two separate occasions but never threatened to equalize, as the Wolf Pack hit a strong .387 in the frame to tie the match.

Nevada continued to pound away after the break, crafting a 13-8 lead in the third behind Groenweghe's hitting. Allen caught fire again, bringing UC Davis back to within a 14-13 deficit. Matias and Jackson then supplied the heavy offense to help pull the Aggies to a 22-17 lead. Morell scored four straight kills to cut a 23-19 UC Davis advantage to a 24-22 threat, but Allen put down a kill to stop the run and close out the frame for a 2-1 match lead.

The Wolf Pack struggled with three attacking errors to start the fourth, but the Aggies gave up chances with two serving errors as the two teams fought to a 7-7 tie. Then Nevada scored nine of the next 12 points to take a 16-10 lead, thanks in part to two kills and a block assist out of Morell. The Wolf Pack kept its guests at bay the rest of the way, forcing the fifth set with an eight-point set win.
The fifth set featured six ties, including a Nevada serving error that knotted the score at 9-9. A Fresenius kill and a solo stuff from Hoeft highlighted three straight Wolf Pack points to set the board at 12-9. Morell had a block and a kill to finish the win.

Allen led UC Davis with 18 kills and a .325 average in Saturday's morning loss to the Zags. Sophomore Brianna Karsseboom added 11 kills while Jackson added a 7-1-11 line for a .545 average. Overall, the Aggies hit a solid .257 for the match but could only convert 55 percent of their side-out opportunites (42 of 76), limiting their scoring runs.

Oddly, Gonzaga's leading hitter shares a similar name to UC Davis' top performer in senior outside hitter Emmy Allen, a Washington State transfer. She finished with 12 kills overall, five in a first set in which the Bulldogs climbed out to an 18-9 lead. Karsseboom and Emily Allen managed four kills each, but UC Davis trailed for almost the entirety of the frame.

Emily Allen had three kills in an 8-5 start to the second, but the Zags immediately responded with five straight points to forge a 10-8 edge. UC Davis fought back to claim as much as a three-point advantage, including a 23-20 edge behind two Jackson kills. The Aggies later held a 24-23 set point with a chance of equalizing the match score, but three Zag kills highlighted a 4-1 finish to the stanza. Instead, Gonzaga went to the break with 2-0 lead.

The Aggies exploded to 17 kills and a .318 average in the third, including nine kills from the right hand of Emily Allen, but Gonzaga's 5-0 run midway through the frame flipped a 13-11 Aggie lead to a 16-13 deficit. Katelyn Oppio put down back-to-back kills down the stretch to keep the Bulldogs in front for the remainder of the match.

Jackson finished the weekend with a .421 average on 38 swings. Reed averaged 4.31 digs per set with 56 overall pickups in the three Wolf Pack Tournament matches.

The Aggies return to action for a Tuesday night Causeway Cup matchup at Sacramento State. Match time is 7 p.m. at the Nest.