NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — UC Davis senior outside hitter
Lauren Matias finished with a match-high 14 kills and hit .333 on the night, while freshman
Shira Lahav added 14 digs defensively, but the Aggies could not solve the CSUN offense, which hit .350 as a team en route to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-12) victory in front of an ESPN3 audience on Friday at The Matadome.
The loss was the fourth straight suffered by UC Davis, which fell to 12-11 overall and 4-6 in league play. CSUN, meanwhile, finished with three players with 10-or-more kills, improving to 8-14 overall and 3-7 in conference matches, avenging an earlier five-set defeat at the hands of the Aggies on Oct. 13 at The Pavilion.
Matias posted her team-high 17th double-digit kill performance of the season, finishing with only four errors in 30 swings. The total pushed the Santa Cruz, Calif., native over the 300 kill plateau for the season, giving her 310 for the season and moving her to within 59 kills of 1,000 for her career with six regular season games remaining.
Lahav, with her 14 scoops, now has a team-high 12 double-digit dig performances for the year — all coming in her last 15 matches — and now has 255 overall for the season. Her total is the most by a first-year Aggie since Heather Reed finished with 272 during her redshirt freshman season in 2016.
Trailing by six early in the opening set, UC Davis rallied back to tie things up at 17-all and has a 21-20 lead after a Matias kill before CSUN closed with five of the final six points to take the victory.
Friday's second set was very similar as the Aggies dug out of an early hole to tie the match at 15-all, but the Matadors again closed strong, ending the set on a 10-5 run to take a 2-0 lead at the break following a Waggoner kill.
UC Davis turned the tables in the third, this time jumping out to the early advantage with five of the first seven points — including three straight kills off the hand of sophomore
Mahalia White — and eventually held a 7-5 advantage before the offense went cold. Three straight points by CSUN gave the Matadors the lead and a 9-0 run late in the set all but sealed the deal to clinch the match.
CSUN was led by 12 kills from Seyvion Waggoner, who hit .611 after committing just one error in 18 swings, while Nicole Nevarez and Taylor Orshoff added 11 kills apiece.
UC Davis returns to the court, and the ESPN3 airwaves, on Saturday night (Nov. 2) at 7 p.m., as the Aggies close out their Southern California swing with a match at Long Beach State.
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.
