DAVIS, Calif. — For the first time in the program's Division I history, the UC Davis women's volleyball team has placed three student-athletes on the All-Big West Conference first team, headlining a list of four Aggies altogether on the postseason honor roll released by the league office on Tuesday.
Senior
Lauren Matias, sophomore
Josephine Ough, and sophomore
Mahalia White, all earned spots on the 16-woman first team, while sophomore setter
Jane Seslar was named to the honorable mention squad. White is the only repeat first-team award-winner after earning Big West Freshman of the Year and first-team honors back in 2017, while Matias adds a first-team honor to her all-conference honorable mention and all-freshman team awards from 2016.
Ough, who earned all-freshman team laurels last season, earned her first career all-conference honor, as did Seslar.
It is the first time that the Aggies have had multiple first-teamers since Kaylin Squyers and Kendall Walbrecht did so in 2015, while UC Davis placed three on any all-conference first team since league Most Valuable Player Jill Changaris, Camille Gutierrez, and Kaersten Hill, were honored in 1996 as members of the Northern California Athletic Conference.
Matias, who became only the 11th player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills, finished the year as the go-to hitter for the Aggies, finishing as one of only three players in the Big West to rack up at least 400 kills on the year (408) and ranking fifth in the league with 3.78 kills per set.
Collecting 23 matches with at least 10 kills this season, the Santa Cruz, Calif., native also ranked ninth in the league in service aces (0.27 per set) and posted the second-highest single-match hitting percentage among Big West hitters this year with 16 kills on 20 swings with no errors (.800) against Pacific on Aug. 31 — trailing only her teammate, White, in that category.
She finished with a season-high 27 kills against Wyoming on Sept. 14 while her 408 kills this season are the most by an Aggie since Squyres in 2015. Her 11 double-doubles also led the team.
Ough finished the regular season ranked second in the Big West with a .383 hitting percentage — which ranks as the third-highest in a single season in school history — connecting for 165 kills and ranking fourth in the league in blocks per set at 1.09. Her 17 solo blocks are also the most by an Aggie since Allison Whitson finished with the same number in 2011.
White made a courageous comeback from Stage 4 Non-Hodgkins lymphoma to pick up her second straight first-team honor — albeit non-consecutive after missing all of the 2018 season — finishing eighth in the league at 3.09 kills per set and picking up double-digit kills in 14 matches this year, including a season-high 21 against Wyoming.
Finally, Seslar ended the regular season as the only setter in the league to post more than 1,000 assists on the year — finishing with 1,068 and ending the year second in the Big West at 9.89 assists per set. The San Francisco native held the top-two single-match assist performances in the conference this season, posting 62 in a five-set win over Wyoming and 58 more in a five-set win over CSUN, while finishing with nine double-doubles on the year.
UC Davis finished the regular season with a 17-12 overall record and a 9-7 mark in Big West play, winning its last three straight and five of its last six overall. The 17 wins are the most victories since the 2012 campaign (17-14) and the highest number of conference wins since the 2015 squad finished 10-6.
2019 ALL-BIG WEST CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL TEAMS
First Team
Julia Crawford, Cal State Fullerton
Avalon DeNecochea, Cal Poly
Maia Dvoracek, Cal Poly
Tallulah Froley, UC Santa Barbara
Hailey Harward, Long Beach State
Hanna Hellvig, Hawai'i
Amber Igiede, Hawai'i
Norene Iosia, Hawai'i
Lauren Matias, UC Davis
Josephine Ough, UC Davis
Meredith Phillips, Cal Poly
Lindsey Ruddins, UC Santa Barbara
Mahalia White, UC Davis
Kashauna Williams, Long Beach State
Skylar Williams, Hawai'i
Yizhi Xue, Long Beach State
Honorable Mention
Savahna Costello, Cal State Fullerton
Mika Dickson, Cal Poly
Rowan Ennis, UC Santa Barbara
Jessica McRoskey, Cal Poly
Madilyn Mercer, Cal Poly
McKenna Ross, Hawai'i
Morgan Salone, CSUN
Jane Seslar, UC Davis
Brooke Van Sickle, Hawai'i
Seyvion Waggoner, CSUN
All-Freshman Team
Julia Crawford, Cal State Fullerton
Tallulah Froley, UC Santa Barbara
Hanna Hellvig, Hawai'i
Amber Igiede, Hawai'i
Katie Kennedy, Long Beach State
Onye Ofoegbu, UC Irvine
Romoni Vivao, UC Santa Barbara
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.
