UC Davis volleyball gets swept by University of New Mexico in two-game series
The back-to-back defeats were the Aggies’ first losses in conference play this season
By COLINA HARVEY— sports@theaggie.org
On Oct. 10, the UC Davis volleyball team hosted the University of New Mexico (UNM) Lobos in the second game of a two-game series. Although the Aggies took the first set, the Lobos defeated them in the next three sets, taking the win.
The Aggies started the conference playoff with a pair of wins over both the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the Air Force Academy. Following the wins against UNLV, Isabella Umpierre, a first-year animal science major, was named Freshman of the Week for recording double-doubles, with 28 kills, 26 digs, six blocks and four aces across both matches.
After beating Air Force twice, the Aggies swept the Mountain West weekly awards. Ally Chandler, a fourth-year human development major, won Offensive Player of the Week; Ximena Cordero Barr, a fourth-year landscape architecture major, won Defensive Player of the Week; and Gianna Bogan, a first-year communication major, rounded out the weekly awards with Freshman of the Week.
In their first match against UNM on Oct. 8, the Aggies’ winning streak was lost in five sets. The game was close until the end, but it was the Lobos who finished it out in the tiebreaker set.
In their rematch against the Lobos, the Aggies struggled to match UNM’s offensive momentum. The first set was neck-and-neck, with both teams trading points and runs. It remained even until both teams reached 20 points, when the Aggies went on a 5-point run and won the set. The run featured three blocks and kills from Chandler and Bogan.
The Aggies started to look shaky in the second set when they gave up a 4-0 run to the Lobos at the start. The Aggies fought back with a kill by Bogan and two kills by Umpierre. UNM then scored six straight points putting the Aggies in a hole. The majority of the points the Aggies gave up to UNM resulted from unforced errors on the Aggies’ part.
The Aggies were unable to close the gap and a 6-1 run by UNM ended the set with a score of 25-15.
The third set played out similarly to the second, with the Aggies falling behind quickly. They struggled to gain any momentum or string together more than one consecutive point. The Lobos took the set handily, winning 25-13.
In the fourth set, the Aggies got ahead early with a 4-0 run that included two kills by Chandler and an ace by Umpierre. Once again, UNM had no problem responding, firing back with a 6-point run. The Aggies stayed within a few points of the Lobos until late in the set when the Lobos went on a 7-1 run to end the set 25-16.
Umpierre and Chandler led the team in kills, with 12 and 11 respectively. Rachel Dunagan, a fourth-year sociology major, led the team in digs with 14.
The Aggies’ next opponent will be the University of Nevada, Reno. They will face the Wolves on Oct. 22 in Reno, and then return to Davis for the last half of the series on Oct. 24.
Written by: Colina Harvey — sports@theaggie.org