DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis senior
Lauren Matias finished with a match-high 24 kills to lead three teammates in double figures, and the Aggies hit .422 for the match, outlasting visiting CSUN for a 3-2 win in Big West Conference play on Sunday afternoon at The Pavilion.
Playing in its third straight five-set contest — and its fifth overall this season — UC Davis improved to 12-7 overall and 4-2 in league action, remaining perfect at home with an 8-0 mark.
Led by 18 kills from Nicole Nevarez and 14 more by Taylor Orshoff, the Matadors fell to 6-11 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
Matias completed her eighth double-double of the year, adding 13 digs to her total while hitting .442 for the match, committing only five errors. Sophomore
Leonie Strehl added 17 kills and hit .429, sophomore
Mahalia White finished with 14 kills and hit .417, while
Alexa Rockas ended the day with 13 kills and hit .650 without an error in 20 swings.
Sophomore
Josephine Ough added seven blocks to her team-leading total, while freshman
Shira Lahav finished with 23 digs to help pace the Aggies' defensive efforts. Sophomore setter
Jane Seslar ended her afternoon with 58 assists — her second-highest total of the season behind only her 62 assists against Wyoming in another five-setter back on Sept. 14.
After dropping an opening set that saw CSUN close things out with a 6-0 run, the Aggies bounced back in a big way, taking the second easily, 25-15, after scoring seven of the first eight points in the period, before gutting out a 25-23 victory in the third, rallying from down 14-11 to score 10 of the next 11 points and eventually finish on a kill by Strehl after the Matadors clawed their way back in it.
CSUN trailed by as many as seven points in the fourth before finding its way back into the set, chipping away and erasing a 21-17 gap with a run of four straight points and forcing a decisive fifth set on back-to-back kills by Orshoff and Morgan Salone.
The two teams traded points to open the final set with neither team leading by more than two before the Aggies began to inch away thanks to a 4-0 run that turned a 7-6 lead right before the changeover into an 11-6 advantage that forced a pair of Matador timeouts. CSUN fought back, closing to within 13-10 on a UC Davis service error, but another error gave the ball back to the Aggies and Strehl and
Alexa Rockas closed down an attack on the left side to end the match.
Winners of seven of its last 10, UC Davis heads to the islands this weekend for its only match of the week, taking on No. 19 Hawai'i on Sunday (Oct. 20) at 8 p.m. PT.
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, and among the top 15 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
AGGIE EVO
Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
MARYA WELCH INITIATIVE
Named after the former physical education instructor, coach and Dean of Women who founded women's sports on the campus 25 years before the passage of Title IX, the Marya Welch Initiative for Women's Athletics provides comprehensive support for UC Davis' 16 women's athletics programs. Through the support of the Marya Welch Initiative and its group members, student-athletes are provided the best possible opportunity to succeed inside the classroom, and in competition, through special project gifts and by increasing visibility and participation at women's events throughout the year. All gifts to the Marya Welch Initiative are matched 1:1, doubling the impact on our women's programs. Visit https://give.ucdavis.edu/ATHG/324041 for more information.
