RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Senior
Lauren Matias finished with a match-high 12 kills, while sophomore
Leonie Strehl hit .667 in 12 swings on the night, helping the UC Davis women's volleyball team sweep past host UC Riverside with a, 25-23, 25-15, 25-19, victory on Saturday night at the SRC Arena.
The Aggies close out the regular season with a 17-12 overall record and a 9-7 mark in Big West Conference play, winning their last three straight — and five of their last six overall — to post the most victories since the 2012 campaign (17-14) and the highest number of conference wins since the 2015 squad finished 10-6.
Led by 10 kills from Ayla Fresenius, the Highlanders finished the year 6-22 overall and 2-14 in league play.
With her 12 kills on the night, Matias finished the regular season with 408 kills and 1,039 for her career — the most kills by an Aggie in a single season since Kaylin Squyres finished with 491 in 2015 — becoming only the third UC Davis player to finish with at least 400 in a season at the Division I level alongside Squyres and Allison Whitson.
Freshman
Demari Webb added 10 kills and hit .333 for the contest — her highest total since posting 11 kills against CSU Bakersfield back on Sept. 21 — while sophomore
Josephine Ough hit .857 with six kills in seven swings without an error.
Defensively, freshman
Perri Starkey led the Aggies with 10 digs, while senior
Jackie Graves added a team-high five blocks on the night,
The Aggies fought through a back-and-forth opening set, scoring three of the final four points after Riverside had rallied to tie the contest at 22, ending it on a kill by Strehl for the 1-0 lead. A 5-0 burst midway though the second gave UC Davis a six-point advantage and the Aggies closed it out with five of the final six points to runaway with the second.
In the third, it was the Highlanders who jumped out to the early lead, but a 5-0 run erased that advantage and UC Davis slowly inched away. A kill by Strehl, an error by UCR, and an ace by Starkey — one of eight on the night for the Aggies — turned a four-point lead into a seven-point advantage and a kill by Matias eventually closed it out to secure the win.
UC Davis hit .320 as a team on the night — including a high of .371 in the second set — while holding UC Riverside to just .182 hitting for the match. The eight aces also give the Aggies 157 for the season — the most since the 2014 team had 169.
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.
