SACRAMENTO — The UC Davis women's volleyball team went point-for-point against No. 6 Florida in the opening set, turning what was a four-point deficit at one point into a one-point advantage late in the set, but the nationally ranked Gators proved to be too much, posting a 25-21, 25-11, 25-18, sweep on Saturday morning in the final match of the Hornet Invitational for the Aggies.
Facing it's highest-ranked opponent since taking on No. 5 Nebraska in 2015, UC Davis fell to 0-2 overall on the year and closes out its opening weekend on Sunday (Aug. 29) at 2 p.m. against No. 17 UCLA at the UCU Center.
The freshman duo of
Olivia Utterback and
Amara Aimufua led the way once again, posting six kills apiece, while junior
Josephine Ough finished with four more blocks and hit .444 (4-0-9) to lead the Aggies. Sophomore
Shira Lahav also added 12 digs defensively.
Trailing 12-8 in the opening set, UC Davis rallied to tie the match at 13-all and, later, used a 4-0 burst to turn a 17-14 Gator lead into an 18-17 lead thanks, in part, to back-to-back aces from freshman
Casi Newman. The Aggies were within a point on a kill by Utterback, but three straight Florida points on two kills and a handling error closed out the first.
The Gators took the second set quickly, but UC Davis didn't go quietly in the third, scoring three of the first four points on an error and kills by Utterback and
Lana Radakovic and led by as many as four at 7-3 to force a Florida timeout following a 4-1 burst.
Florida answered with a 5-1 run to tie the match at eight apiece and, after trading the next eight points, used a 6-0 run to go up 18-12 and begin to pull away. A pair of errors and a kill by Utterback made it a three-point contest, but that would be as close as the Aggies would get the rest of the way.
The Gators hit .352 for the match to just .122 for UC Davis.
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, over 700 student-athletes across 25 teams enjoy an unrivaled undergraduate experience at the fifth-ranked public school in the country.
Ranked annually in the nation's top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis and its innovative Aggie EVO System helps student-athletes develop passions, connect with a comprehensive network of alums and industry leaders, gain real-world experience and thrive as a young professional following a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school.
