The Aggies lose its final matches of the season in close matchups
By COLINA HARVEY — sports@theaggie.org
On April 24, the UC Davis women’s beach volleyball team traveled to the Big West Championships in Santa Monica, California. All Big West teams automatically qualify for the tournament; however, they must make it through a pool play stage in order to qualify for bracket play.
The Aggies’ 2025 season saw both success and struggle as they lingered around a 0.500 winning percentage for most of the season. Despite a promising six-game winning streak in April, they finished the season on a four-game losing streak.
Their 4-4 Big West record landed them the fifth seed of seven teams going into the tournament.
In pool play, the Aggies were slated to play fourth-seeded California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and first-seeded California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly).
During the regular season, the Aggies beat CSUN, and they looked to replicate that result in the championship.
The first duo to take on the CSUN Matadors was Kimi Waller, third-year nutrition science major, and Alexandra Leal, a second-year environmental engineering major. They suffered a harsh loss in the first set, losing 21-9. Despite their efforts, they lost the second set as well, giving up one point to CSUN.
Skye Smolinski, a second-year design major, and Mia Olen, a fourth-year environmental policy analysis and planning major, were able to get the Aggies back in the game with a close first set win and a dominant second set win, gaining a point for Davis.
They were then followed by Kylie Miller, a fourth-year managerial economics major, and Tabitha Mitchell, a fourth-year animal science major, who won two sets to rack up another Aggie point.
Although Emily Uhrinak, a second-year sustainable environmental design major, and Kendal Steller, a first-year managerial economics major, won one set, they were not able to win the match, leaving the score tied at 2-2.
The pressure was on for the last two finishers, Lindsay Heller, a fourth-year communications major, and Kate O’Steen, a third-year human development major, as they won the first set but lost the second. This meant that their third and final set would determine which team won the point. The duo was ultimately successful, winning 15-11 and securing the win for Davis.
Later in the day, the Aggies faced Cal Poly, which beat the Aggies 5-0 during the regular season. Once again, the Mustangs dominated the game, winning all five matches, with UC Davis unable to score a point. Smolinski and Olen were the only Aggie pair able to force three sets against their opponents. They nearly won the third set, but ultimately lost 16-14.
Despite the loss, the Aggies secured a spot in bracket play and took on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Rainbow Warriors on April 25.
Heller and O’Steen were able to beat their opponents in only two sets. They showed their strength in the second set, only allowing the Rainbow Warriors to score nine points. However, Smolinski and Olen were not able to overcome their opponents, losing in two sets. Miller and Mitchell also lost, leaving the Aggies down 2-1.
Waller and Leal won a very close first set and then lost the second, pushing the match to three sets. The third set was hard fought, and Waller and Leal were able to come out on top, tying the match 2-2.
The last pair to finish their match was Uhrinak and Steller. After being trounced in the first set, they came back strong, winning the second set 13-21. Although they came close to winning the third set, they could not quite get the job done, resulting in the end of the Aggies’ season.
The close game was a tough way for the Aggies to go out. However, the young team will have many returning players next season. Hopefully, they will be able to come back to the championship in a year’s time and have more success.
Written by: Colina Harvey — sports@theaggie.org
