The Aggies entered the weekend with a shot at salvaging a .500 home record.
But that wasn’t quite what happened.
The UC Davis women’s volleyball team fell to Cal State Fullerton in a 3-2 heartbreaker on Friday, and then was swept by Cal State Northridge on Saturday.
“I think Friday was a huge game for us because we had so much invested,” said head coach Jamie Holmes. “I think overall we played good volleyball in terms of execution and playing at a good, high level.
“Saturday I thought was just the residual effect from the previous night. It was a tough situation for us. All in all, it was very tough emotionally on the whole team.“
Friday – Cal State Fullerton 3, UC Davis 2
The opening match of the home weekend for UC Davis at the Pavilion could not have started off better.
The Aggies jumped to an early two-game lead only to surrender the win in three straight to the Titans, 21-25, 20-25, 31-29, 25-17, 15-10.
UC Davis never trailed in the first set of the night. Sophomore Kayla Varney and senior Renee Ibekwe combined for four kills early to give the team an early 7-5 advantage.
A crucial dig by junior Arveeta Singh helped seal the deal, as Varney delivered a quick knockout blow to the Titans at 25-21.
The second game looked bleak from the onset, as the Titans rebounded from their first game loss to claim a 5-1 lead. Solid defense by Varney and Singh kept the Aggies in it to force six ties in the set.
The turning point of the game came with the score tied at 18. The Titans committed two hitting errors, two net violations and a service error giving the Aggies a 23-18 lead en route to a 25-20 victory.
For the second time this season, after jumping out to a 2-0 home lead, UC Davis surrendered the final three games to give away the match.
Those final three sets were clouded by the outstanding offense provided by Titans hitter Brittany Moore, as the senior recorded 19 of her 29 kills. She got 77 swings to provide the match-high in kills, but did so on a solid .221 hitting percentage.
For the match, the Aggies finished with 51 kills on a .136 clip while the Titans hit .120 with 61 kills on seven more swings than the Aggies.
Saturday – Cal State Northridge 3, UC Davis 0
For the eighth time this season – and third at home – the Aggies were swept by their opponent.
The last-place Matadors were the ones who picked this one up, winning the match 25-20, 25-22, 25-20.
An early 4-1 advantage for UC Davis was made possible by junior Carson Lowden who fed senior Renee Ibekwe and sophomore Julie King, recording two of her 31 assists for the match.
Four attack errors by the Aggies hitters allowed the Titans to crawl back at seven apiece.
The score remained close until the 19th point when the Matadors began to pull away. The 19-19 ties was the 13th of the game, setting the stage for a close battle to 25.
But three attack errors by the Aggies gave the Matadors a 22-19 advantage. Then Cal State Northridge’s Angela Hupp slammed down the final two kills of the game to seal it up for the Matadors at 25-20.
The final two games of the match can be told by looking at the team’s hitting percentages. The Aggies opened up with a .225 clip, and then fell to .171 in the second, then .038 in the third – a .158 average for the match. On the other bench, the Matadors hit .227 for the match.
Hupp finished with a match-high 15 kills on a .250 hitting percentage. Sophomore Melanie Adams hit .558 for 11 kills for UC Davis.
MATT MILLER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
