Oct. 17, 2008

Final Stats

NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - In a battle of two teams trying to escape the Big West women's volleyball cellar, UC Davis defeated Cal State Northridge 25-22, 26-24, 25-20 on Friday at The Matadome.

With the win, the Aggies improve to 9-11 overall and 1-6 in the Big West. The loss, the Matadors' 12th straight, drops Northridge to 5-15 overall and 0-7 in conference play.

For the second straight match, the Matadors did not have a hitter reach double figures in kills as junior Angela Hupp had a team-high nine kills while hitting .154. Sophomore Brittany Williams rebounded from a tough last few matches to knock down eight kills while hitting a solid .294. Fellow sophomore Siara Grayson added seven kills (.050) and four digs while Tela Burnett and Kayla Wright each chipped in two aces.

Despite the three-set loss, the stat sheet was fairly even. The Aggies out-pointed the Matadors by a slight margin 54.0-51.0 and had 44 kills as a team to 36 for Northridge. The Matadors posted a slim 9.0-8.0 edge in team blocks and had six aces to two for Davis. The one area the Aggies dominated was in team digs as Davis had 34 to 22 for the Matadors.

Northridge led from the outset in the first set opening up a 6-2 lead on a Lynda Morales kill. The Matadors led by four points seven more times in the set, the last at 17-13 after Morales and Val Kepler teamed up to block the Aggies' Keala Peterson. After a UC Davis timeout, a Peterson kill propelled the Aggies on a 7-0 run which turned a 17-13 deficit into a 20-17 lead. The Matadors closed to within one at 20-19, 22-21 and 23-22 but could never get the equalizer and a Julie King kill followed by an Amy Hultner hitting error gave UC Davis set one 25-22. Williams led Northridge in the first set with four kills and just one error in five swings.

After both teams hit well in set one, the two teams fell off the pace a bit in set two. The Aggies took advantage of a pair of Matador hitting errors and a trio of Peterson kills to open up an early 7-2 lead. The lead swelled to six at 10-4 following a Renee Ibekwe put-away before Northridge mounted a comeback. The Matadors turned in a 6-1 run, highlighted by a pair of Williams kills, to pull within 11-10 forcing a Davis timeout. After a Kelley Hanson service error gave the Aggies a 12-10 lead, Northridge scored four straight points to take a 14-12 lead. The teams then traded sideouts until 17-17 when an Ibekwe kill gave the Aggies the lead for good at 18-17. The Matadors managed to tie the score four times down the stretch, the last at 24-24 before a Peterson kill followed by a Carson Lowden-Tori Hooper block on Williams gave the Aggies a two set lead.

The third set was all too familiar for the Matadors as an early leads of 5-1 and 7-3 quickly disappeared. After leading 7-3, UC Davis used a 6-2 run to pull even at 9-9 after Grayson was blocked by Lowden and King. After the Aggies took a 12-10 lead, the Matadors again used a 4-0 run to go back on top 14-12 after a Kayla Varney service error. Northridge led 17-16 before a Peterson kill and a Hupp attack error propelled the Aggies on an 8-1 run to put the set out of reach at 24-18. Northridge saved two match points before Morales hit out sending the Matadors to their 12th consecutive setback.

Ibekwe led all hitters with 13 kills (.226) while Peterson added 11 kills (.280). Aggie libero Avreeta Singh posted a match-high 11 digs in the win.

Cal State Northridge wraps up its three-match homestand on Saturday night as the Matadors host Pacific at 7 p.m.

- GO MATADORS -