The 3-1 victory over UC Irvine marks the Aggies’ fifth consecutive win
By COLINA HARVEY— sports@theaggie.org
On Oct. 4, UC Davis Women’s Volleyball hosted University of California, Irvine (UCI) in the second game of a four-game home stand. The Aggies defeated the UCI Anteaters 3-1, marking their fifth win in a row. The win also brought the team’s conference record to 4-0.
In early-season invitational tournaments and non-conference games, the team had mixed results, with a non-conference record of 4-4. However, since starting conference play, they have racked up wins against UC Riverside, the University of Hawai’i, California State University Fullerton, and UCI.
The first set of the Aggies’ matchup against UCI started with both teams trading points until the Anteaters scored five straight times, four of which were off of UC Davis’ errors. This took the score to 12-6, giving UCI an edge.
While the Anteaters were able to maintain their lead for much of the first set, the Aggies crept closer and closer until senior setter Haden Bones, a fourth-year cognitive science major, tied the game up at 23-23. An opponent block took the score to 24-23, creating a set point for UCI. A kill by outside hitter Jade Light, a fourth-year aeronautical engineering major, tied the game back up, until an error by the Aggies created another set point for UCI. However, the Anteaters could not capitalize on this set point, as the Aggies scored three more points to come from behind and take the first set. Middle blocker Ally Chandler, a third-year human development major, stood out early with six kills in the first set alone.
Although the second set was even at the start, UCI quickly pulled ahead and created separation, forming their largest lead of the game and leading the Aggies 18-10. Nonetheless, the Aggies crept back, managing to close the gap to four points. However, the Anteaters had created too big a lead for the Aggies to overcome. UCI equalized, winning the set 25-18.
In the third set, the tables turned, and it was the Aggies who built up an early lead. They got off to a quick start, leading Irvine 6-1 before prompting UCI to take a timeout. Then, a kill by outside hitter Brooke Hibino, a third-year managerial economics major, was successfully challenged by UCI and overturned, slowing the Aggies’ momentum.
UCI started to close the gap, turning the Davis lead — which had been seven points before the challenge — down to three. However, the Aggies bounced back with a strong set of kills that put them ahead by nine points. The Aggies were able to maintain their lead and close out the set with a score of 25-13.
The fourth set stayed extremely tight throughout, with neither team able to break away. That was until near the end of the set, when Davis started to creep away. Kills from Hibino and Breeze Czapinski, third-year international relations and psychology major, brought the score to 23-19, the largest lead of the set.
The Aggies kept the small lead until the end of the game, winning the set 25-21 to remain undefeated in Big West play.
Chandler led the team with 14 kills, while Light and Czapinski had 13 each. Libero Ximena Cordero Barr, a second-year landscape architecture major, showed out defensively, recording 35 digs.
In last season’s Big West tournament, the Aggies comfortably clinched a position as the third seed out of six qualifying teams. While they were able to get past the sixth seed, UCI, they fell to the second seed in the quarterfinal, University of Hawai’i, in a riveting five-setter.
Their strong performance in this season’s games so far shows that this year’s squad has the potential to make a deep run in the Big West tournament, and potentially reach the national tournament.
Written by: Colina Harvey — sports@theaggie.org
