AUSTIN, Texas – The UC Davis volleyball team put up a great fight, but ultimately fell to No. 1 University of Texas, 3-0, at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Texas on Wednesday night.
 
"It was a great experience," head coach Dan Conners said. "We learned where we stack up against one of the top teams in the country and the current No. 1 team in the country. I think it was a good measuring stick. What I was most proud of was how hard and consistent we played. I loved how aggressive we were playing and a great effort on defense as well. Overall, I'm proud of their performance tonight."
 
For the first time in program history, the Aggies squared up against the No. 1 ranked team in the country. The highest ranked opponent previously UC Davis had faced was No. 5 Nebraska in 2015.
 
Despite the loss, the Aggies remain above .500 at 4-3 overall on the season. The Longhorns kept their perfect season alive to 5-0 after playing their first non-ranked opponent of the campaign.
 
Senior Josephine Ough, sophomore Olivia Utterback, and redshirt junior Demari Webb were tied for the team lead with five kills apiece. Freshman Jade Light recorded a pair of kills, including her first career kill as an Aggie.
 
On the defensive side, junior Shira Lahav paved the way with eight digs. Junior Lana Radakovic stood out with her net front presence, collecting a team-high five total blocks. Webb contributed two solo blocks to accompany her five kills.
 
"We didn't let the magnitude of them being No. 1 and in a hostile environment get to us," Conners said. "We just played our game and did what we could to put pressure on them. I was proud of our steadiness of our competitive engagement."
 
The Longhorns got off to a strong start, opening on a 9-2 advantage, forcing UC Davis to take an early timeout. Out of the stoppage, the Aggies and Longhorns traded points. The visiting Aggies tried to rally and got within three points late in the frame, however the Longhorns took the opening set, 25-18, with Texas' Melanie Parra leading with eight kills.
 
In set two, the Aggies dug themselves into a hole early as Texas went on a 5-1 run to start. The Aggies roared back from down six to make it 10-8, but the home team, carried by the crowd's momentum, padded their lead to 15-10. A 3-0 run by UC Davis, which featured a pair of back-to-back blocks by Webb forced Texas to take its first timeout of the match, up by just two. The Aggies climbed to within one of the lead, but they could not equalize the score as the Longhorns used a 6-2 run to close out a second set win, 25-19.
 
For the third frame, the Aggies strung together a final push, but ultimately Texas went on multiple scoring runs, including an 8-0 run, and commanded the third set to a 25-9 victory.
 
UC Davis hit .111 for the match compared to .345 for Texas.
 
The Aggies wrap up their road trip in Austin, Texas when they face off against Denver on Thursday at 2 pm PT.
 
"We know we can compete with some of the best teams in the country," Conners said. "We're going to take some confidence away from this performance."