SERVICE!: The UC Davis women's volleyball team closes out the non-conference portion of its 2019 schedule this weekend, making the drive south to participate in the Roadrunner Classic hosted by CSU Bakersfield. The Aggies will be joined by the host Roadrunners, Fresno State, and San Francisco, at the two-day event, which begins on Friday (Sept. 20) and runs through Saturday (Sept. 21).

THIS WEEK…
WHO: UC Davis (6-4 Overall) at the Roadrunner Classic
WHEN: Sept. 20-21, 2019
WHERE: Icardo Center in Bakersfield, Calif.
TV: None
RADIO: None
STREAMING VIDEO: GoRunners.com (CSU Bakersfield matches only)
LIVE STATS: GoRunners.com
COACHES CORNER: Dan Conners (UCLA '01) is in his sixth season at UC Davis (82-74 Overall, .526)… Giovana Melo (Arizona State '06) is in her sixth season at CSU Bakersfield… Frank Lavrisha (Ohio State '79) is in his third season at San Francisco… Jonathan Winder (Pepperdine '08) is in his second season at Fresno State.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 20
11 a.m. - San Francisco at CSU Bakersfield
2 p.m. - Fresno State vs. UC Davis

Saturday, Sept. 21
10 a.m. - UC Davis at CSU Bakersfield
Noon - San Francisco vs. Fresno State
5 p.m. - San Francisco vs. UC Davis
7 p.m. - Fresno State at CSU Bakersfield

SERIES NOTES
UC Davis vs. Fresno State: Fresno State leads, 9-6 (Last meeting: Sept. 19, 2015 - Fresno State, 3-0)… Current Streak: Lost 3
UC Davis vs. CSU Bakersfield: CSU Bakersfield leads, 24-9 (Last meeting: Sept 22, 2013 - UC Davis, 3-1)… Current Streak: Won 1
UC Davis vs. San Francisco: San Francisco leads, 7-2 (Last meeting: Sept. 11, 2012 - San Francisco, 3-1)… Current Streak: Lost 1

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: Fresno State enters the weekend with a 5-4 overall record and is coming off a 1-2 showing at the Lumberjack Classic hosted by Northern Arizona last week… Junior outside hitter Desiree Sukhov leads the offense with 144 kills and 4.36 kills per set while hitting .209 on the year… Freshman middle blocker Grace Doyle, with 30 blocks (0.97 bps), and junior libero Reagan Leonard, with 121 digs (3.67 dps), pace the defense.

ABOUT THE ROADRUNNERS: CSU Bakersfield — a future Big West Conference rival for the Aggies — enters its own event this week with a 3-6 overall record, but us on the upswing after a 2-1 showing at the Farmers State Bank Invitational hosted by Montana last week… The Roadrunners posted wins over UTEP and the host Lady Griz before falling to Montana State in the finale… Sophomore outside hitter Hayley McCluskey leads the offense with 89 kills and 2.54 kps, while sophomore middle blocker Brooke Boiseau is averaging 2.03 kps and hitting a team-high .235… Boiseau also leads the team with 35 blocks (0.97 bps), while junior libero Jordan Ishida leads the team with 117 digs (3.25 dps).

ABOUT THE DONS: San Francisco enters the tournament with a 4-4 overall record, splitting a pair of matches at its own Bay Area Invitational with a win over Utah State and a loss to Cornell… Senior outside hitter Kathya Garcia leads the offense with 101 kills and 3.88 kps, while hitting .243 on the year… Junior opposite Emily Zinger paces the defense with 21 total blocks (0.81 bps), while junior libero Anna Dalla Vecchia averages 4.15 dpg.

CONNERS COMMENTS…
Thoughts on the South Dakota Classic…
"We beat a very good team in Wyoming and we competed pretty tightly with the rest of the field, but we knew they were going to be tough opponents, we knew it was going to be a tough weekend in terms of travel and the challenges that we faced there. We were also nursing a few injuries, so we didn't have our normal group out there, but it was an opportunity for us to gain some good experience against some good teams."

"Lana Radakovic stepped in and did a nice job in the first matches of her career and did a nice job blocking. Shira got an opportunity to start and she took full advantage of that opportunity. She played great defense. Leonie also stepped in and did a great job, blocked a lot of balls and did a great job of attacking."

On Josephine Ough's all-tournament weekend…
"She did a great job all around: scoring offensively and defensively. She's been working really hard to close the block and then being up on time, available to attack. We were able to get her the ball a lot against Wyoming and I think that was a big difference in that match."

On upcoming weekend in Bakersfield…
"I think, again, they are all teams that have talent and are good. Again, I think it's a tournament that we can go in and win, but we can't just 'expect' that. We have to come in, work for it, and 'earn' it. None of those teams are going to give us an inch so we have to go in and take it from them."

On the teams growth from the start of the year…
"The team came together that first weekend really nicely, played hard, played together. We were in our comfort zone at that point, playing at home, and that was a nice benefit for us. I think right now, these last two weeks in Utah and South Dakota, we've hit some adversity and, I think, from what I've seen, the team is doing a nice job responding and accepting what it is, and we're going to see how we bounce back from it this week. Hopefully, we get a little healthier and we're able to actually train as a whole group and put a nice performance together this weekend."

AGGIE CUT SHOTS…
• Senior Lauren Matias (27) and sophomore Mahalia White (21) each finished with 20 kills in the win over Wyoming — the first Aggie duo to do so since Allie Wegener (28) and Kaylin Squyres (24) at Omaha on Sept. 9, 2015
• Matias and White have each tallied double-digit kills in five matches this season to lead the team
• Matias topped the 20-kill plateau for the third time in her career, while the 27 kills rank behind only her career-best 34 kills at Cal State Fullerton in 2016
• She added 17 digs to complete her third double-double of the season against Wyoming
• White, meanwhile, topped 20 kills for the sixth time in her career and most since she had 22 against UC Santa Barbara in 2017 and shy of her career high of 27 against Long Beach State earlier that year
• Sophomore setting Jane Seslar's 62 assists against the Cowgirls are the most in the Big West Conference this season and were the most by an Aggie since Jenny Woolway had 62 in four sets at LSU on Aug. 31, 2013
• Seslar's 345 assists this year lead the Big West, while the sophomore is one of two players overall in the league to average more than 10 assists per set, ranking second at 10.15 entering the week
• Sophomore Josephine Ough became the fourth different Aggie to earn all-tournament honors this season, picking up a spot on the team at the South Dakota Classic after setting a career high with 14 kills and hitting .650 (14-1-20) against Wyoming — the fourth-highest single-match hitting percentage in the Big West thus far this year — to go with four blocks
• Ough, who has committed only nine errors thus far this season, paces the Big West Conference in hitting percentage at .388 for the year (42-9-85), while White ranks 10th at .289 (115-48-232)
• Ough's 1.24 blocks per set are fifth in the league
• Sophomore Leonie Strehl also ended the day in double-digits against Wyoming with 15 — the most since she set a career high with 18 against UC Riverside last season
• The Aggies finished with four players with double-digit kills for the first time since a five-game victory over UC Irvine on Oct. 20, 2018 (Emily Allen 15, Nicola Moore 12, Lauren Jackson 11, Brianna Karsseboom 11)
• A day after setting a career high with 17 digs, freshman Shira Lahav set that bar even higher with 24 digs against Wyoming — the most by an Aggie since Malia Bolko finished with 27 against UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 10, 2018
• Paced by 13 from junior Alexa Rockas and 12 more from Seslar, the Aggies rank second in the Big West Conference entering the week with 1.59 aces per set, while the team's 54 overall stand third in the league
• Rockas' 13 aces are tied for third in the Big West, while Seslar is tied for sixth
• The Aggies' 81 kills against Wyoming are the most in the Big West this year, while the 51 kills against Portland State on Sept. 7 are the most by a Big West school in a three-set match this season
• Head Coach Dan Conners enters his sixth season at the helm of the program and has posted back-to-back 16-win seasons — the most for the program since the 2012 squad won 17 matches
• With 18 more wins this year, Conners would join Kathy DeYoung (169), Marlene Piper (152), and Jamie Holmes (100), as UC Davis coaches with at least 100 career victories
• The Aggies return eight letter winners and a pair of starters off of last season's team that finished in a tie for fifth in the Big West Conference standings
• UC Davis features seven newcomers (six true freshmen and a junior college transfer) as well as welcomes back a pair of redshirts (Webb and White)
• The six true freshmen are the most since the 2017 squad had six, while the seven newcomers are the most since the 2015 Aggies featured eight new faces in Head Coach Dan Conners' second season at the helm
• UC Davis was picked to finish sixth in the race for the Big West Conference title according to a vote of head coaches. Cal Poly (5 first-place votes) and Hawai'i (4 first-place votes) were separated by a single point at the top, followed by UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Long Beach State, and the Aggies. CSUN, UC Riverside, and Cal State Fullerton, round out the poll.

DIBS ON DOUBLE-DIGITS
Double-Digit Kills Performances (High)
Mahalia White - 5 (21 vs. Wyoming)
Lauren Matias - 5 (27 vs. Wyoming)
Demari Webb - 3 (15 vs. Sacramento State)
Josephine Ough - 1 (14 vs. Wyoming)
Leonie Strehl - 1 (15 vs. Wyoming)

Double-Digit Digs Performances (High)
Lauren Matias - 4 (17 vs. Wyoming)
Ally Reyes - 3 (19 vs. Sacramento State)
Jane Seslar - 3 (14 vs. Sacramento State)
Shira Lahav - 2 (24 vs. Wyoming)
Perri Starkey - 1 (10 vs. Wyoming)

Double-Digit Blocks Performances
TBD

Double-Digit Points Performances (High)
Lauren Matias - 7 (30 vs. Wyoming)
Mahalia White - 5 (22 vs. Wyoming)
Demari Webb - 4 (16 vs. Sacramento State)
Josephine Ough - 2 (16.5 vs. Wyoming)
Leonie Strehl - 1 (17 vs. Wyoming)

DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Lauren Matias - 3 (Kills-Digs)
Jane Seslar - 3 (Assists-Digs)

2019 HONOR ROLL
Mahalia White - Aggie Invitational MVP; UVU Wolverine Invitational All-Tournament Team
Demari Webb - Aggie Invitational All-Tournament Team
Jane Seslar - Aggie Invitational All-Tournament Team
Josephine Ough - South Dakota Classic All-Tournament Team
 

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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.

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