Nov. 17, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEK
Saturday, Nov. 22 - PACIFIC, 7 p.m.

LAST WEEK
Friday, Nov. 14 - CAL STATE FULLERTON (L, 2-3)
Saturday, Nov. 15 - CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (L, 0-3)

NOTES
LOOKING BACK: The Aggies dropped a pair of home conference matches over the weekend, giving up a 2-0 lead in a five-set loss to Cal State Fullerton on Friday, then falling in three sets to Cal State Northridge on Saturday... The loss to the Matadors clocked in at 1:10, the shortest match of the year... Sophomore RS Melanie Adams was a bright spot for UC Davis in that match, hitting 11-1-18 (.556) with an ace and two blocks... Senior OH Renee Ibekwe led the Aggies offensively on Friday, delivering 14 kills... She hit 8-0-19 in the two set victories... Freshman MB Katie Denny tallied 11 blocks over the weekend.... Sophomore OH Kayla Varney matched her season high with 22 digs on Friday... Coincidentally, her previous best also came against the Titans, in the team's road win on October 18.

SCHOOL RECORD WATCH: With 37 digs in the previous weekend, junior libero Avreeta Singh boosted her career total to 1,409... She surpassed Candy Lench (1,395 from 1989-92) for second place during Saturday's match and now needs just 38 to surpass Mary McClelland for the Aggie standard... Singh's previous single-match bests are 42 (five sets vs. Fresno State, 9/16/06) and 40 (four sets vs. Fullerton, 9/26/06).

AMONG THE LEADERS: Ibekwe currently ranks 2nd among Big West Conference leaders at 3.61 kills per set, slightly ahead of Cal Poly's Kylie Atherstone (3.59 kps)... Cal State Fullerton's Brittany Moore leads the conference with 3.97 per, helped greatly by 60 kills during the previous weekend... Singh holds 5th place on the conference digs leaderboard at 3.91 dps.

UP NEXT: UC Davis concludes its 2008 season with a Saturday home match against Pacific... It will also be the career finale match for four seniors: Renee Ibekwe, Chantal Paschetta, Michelle Nelson and Erin Turner... Ibekwe's rise in the program is well-known: she redshirted in 2004 and played sparingly for two years before breaking out in 2007... She has ranked among the Big West leaders in kills for the entire season, including the No. 1 spot for most... Paschetta was the Aggies' leading hitter in her first two years before switching to the right side... Nelson broke in as a setter when UC Davis ran a 6-2 system, then moved to a permanent DS role... Turner transferred from Kentucky in the spring of 2007, hit 202 kills for the Aggies in 2007, but has been sidelined from her comeback from injury this season.

PACIFIC (10-15, 9-6) suffered its first home loss of the year, falling to Cal State Fullerton in five sets on Saturday... Natalie Tomaszewska hit .400 with four blocks... The Tigers had swept Cal State Northridge the night before... Senior OH Alexa Anderson hit 12-1-31 (.355) in Friday's win, then added 18-4-47 (.298) hitting in Saturday's loss... Libero Dancyne Kama totaled 45 digs in eight sets over the weekend... Pacific was 8-0 at home heading into Saturday's showdown with the Titans, but 2-14 in road or neutral-site matches... Junior Mallori Gibson, a transfer from Colorado, leads Pacific with 304 kills, while Anderson is close behind at 291... Sophomore OH Svenja Englehardt averages 2.97 kills per set to go with her team-best 34 aces.

SERIES INFO: UC Davis is winless in 10 meetings all-time against Pacific, mostly in the Division I era... Until last weekend, the Aggies were the one of two teams (along with UC Santa Barbara) to pick off a set against the Tigers on their home Spanos Center floor... UC Davis had its closest run against its I-5 rival late in the 2006 season, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth-game, 16-14 loss.

HEAD COACH JAMIE HOLMES:
"I thought we played some really good volleyball in the first three games against Fullerton. We played with a better maturity level, where we were controlling our play. I thought it was the best we executed in a long time. To a spectator, it may have looked like we were a little flat in the third, but I thought we were still playing good volleyball."

"The Fullerton match was a hard match, with a shift in rhythm and momentum in the fourth and into the fifth. The players were really invested in Games 1, 2 and 3, so losing the third game was pretty pivotal to what happened in the fourth and fifth, and it rolled into Saturday night against Northridge."

"We took a few days off to take a step back, and I think the players are ready to get back into the gym on Tuesday to get better at a few things. Playing against Pacific at home on an Aggie Pack night and for Senior Night is momentum in itself. There is a definite difference in our team when we play in an environment that has some atmosphere versus an environment that's dead. We'll go out there and give it our best and our all. Hopefully that equals a `W' but more importantly, I hope it equals playing to our potential. I want to play a mature match at the top of our ability level."

"I'm excited to celebrate the accomplishments of our seniors. Renee, Michelle and Chantal have been through the program for four years, and Erin for two. They've gone through some good times and bad times. It's something to be celebrated that they've stuck with it. I want them to have a good Senior Night. I want them to reflect on their experiences as Aggies with a lot of pride. I just hope it's a special night for them."