Oct. 17, 2009

Final Stats

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Junior outside hitter Kayla Varney tallied a team-high 18 kills and .382 hitting, while junior right-side Melanie Adams added 13 kills and a pair of aces to lift UC Davis to a five-set, 25-19, 23-25, 14-25, 25-21, 18-16, at UC Santa Barbara in Big West Conference women's volleyball action at the Thunderdome Saturday night.

The Aggies improve to 15-7 overall and 6-2 in conference play, scoring their first win over the Gauchos in series history. UCSB, among the teams receiving votes in the AVCA national coaches poll, suffers its first home loss of the season in falling to 14-5 overall and 4-3 in league.

Varney committed just five hitting errors on 34 swings to hit .382 for the match. Freshman outside hitter Allison Whitson added 15 kills to go with three blocks, senior setter Carson Lowden hit 4-for-7 with two saves and three blocks, and senior libero Avreeta Singh tallied a match-high 18 digs to highlight the UC Davis boxscore.

For UCSB, senior outside hitter Rebecca Saraceno slammed 28 kills on 58 attempts for a .362 hitting average, while freshman Leah Sully chippped in eight kills and three service aces. No player besides Saraceno had double-figured offensive numbers, nor did any other Gaucho take more than 24 swings at the ball.

Adams sparked UC Davis in the first-set win, hitting six kills on eight attacks. She recorded a solo stuff and a kill in a 6-0 run to bring the Aggies to a 11-5 lead, then added two kills and a block assist to push that advantage to 19-11.

However, Saraceno's offense helped the Gauchos tie the match with a victory in the second set. She planted 10 kills and hit .438, boosting UCSB to a 17-10 advantage. But the Aggies fought back, scoring five straight points behind the serving of redshirt freshman Kaitlyn Plum, evening the proceedings to 21-21 late the frame. Varney hit 6-1-9 in the second set, but Saraceno put away two more kills down the stretch to deliver the win to the Gauchos.

UC Santa Barbara overpowered its guest in the third set, hitting .448 and converting 80 percent of its side-out opportunities. Saraceno again provided the offensive fireworks, hitting 7-for-10. But UC Davis regrouped offensively for the fourth, improving from just .040 hitting in the third set to a .424 clip in its 25-21 win. Adams put away five kills and had two blocks, including the game-winner.

With two kills and an ace from Sully in the first seven points, the Gauchos appeared prime to protect their home court with a 6-1 start in the fifth. But Adams had an ace in a four-point serving run, bringing the tally to 7-7 shortly before the changeover. The two teams battled to nine more ties after that point, earning match-point opportunites on Adams' second ace (15-14) and a Varney kill (17-16). The second one held up, as UCSB committed a hitting error against Plum's serving.

UC Davis entered the match with an 0-11 all-time record against UC Santa Barbara. In fact, the Aggies had only won a single set in their series history with the Gauchos.

Saturday's win is the third five-set conference victory for UC Davis, coming on the heels of Friday's similar win over Cal Poly.

The Aggies return to action on Saturday, October 24 for more Big West Conference action at Cal State Northridge.

UC DAVIS 3, UC SANTA BARBARA 2 (25-19, 23-25, 14-25, 25-21, 18-16)

UC Davis (kills-aces-blocks) - Kayla Varney 18-1-0, Allison Whitson 15-0-3, Melanie Adams 13-2-4, Betsy Sedlak 6-0-4, Carson Lowden 4-2-3, Katie Denny 2-0-3, Avreeta Singh 0-1-0, Lindsay Dowd 0-1-0, Kaitlyn Plum 0-1-0. Totals 58-8-11.0. Assists - Lowden, 49. Digs leaders - Singh, 18; Varney, 14; Lowden 11.

UCSB (kills-aces-blocks) - Rebecca Saraceno 28-1-2, Lily Lopez 9-0-2, Leah Sully 8-3-1, Kasey Kipp 7-0-5, Stacey Schmidt 6-2-2, Charlene DeHoog 6-0-1, Dana Vargas 2-1-1, Quinn Williams 1-0-0, Chelsey Lowe 0-1-1, Totals 67-8-8.0. Assists - Vargas 52. Digs leaders - Sully 14, Vargas 12, Lowe 12.

Attendance: 424. Time: 2:10.