UC Irvine
Pacific
Olsen, Anteaters Tame Aggies in Four
October 21, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. --- Outside hitter Shaina Olsen recorded a career-high 19 kills to lead UC Irvine to a 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-13, 30-28) win over UC Davis in Big West action Friday at Crawford Court.
Olsen hit .279 for the match and added 12 digs for her second double-double match of the season. Aly Squires put away 13 kills to go along with 13 digs while Shannon Fleming paced the Anteater defense with eight block assists as UCI recorded a season-high 16 team blocks. Fleming also totaled six kills, hitting .455 (6-1-11). Taylor Smith knocked down seven kills and put up five blocks. Kristin Winkler tied for the match-high with 14 digs to go along with two aces while Marissa Alvarez totaled 23 assists. Mary Carls logged 21 assists, two aces and 10 digs in the win.
UC Davis jumped out with the early lead in the first set, taking an 18-13 advantage on a kill by Allison Whitson. However, UCI reeled off five straight points to tie the match as Fleming and Smith's block on Whitson was followed by consecutive Aggie errors. At 21-21, UC Davis mounted a four-point run, capitalizing on three unforced errors by UCI to take the first frame.
The Anteater block keyed an early run as UCI took a 5-1 lead to open the second frame. The Aggies rallied to take a 6-5 lead but was unable to widen the margin. With UCI trailing 16-15, a Carls ace was followed Olsen and Fleming, who paired up for the block on Devon Damelio, prompting a UC Davis timeout. Jenny Woolway found Whitson for an Aggie kill but Smith delivered a line shot and then muscled a ball through the UC Davis block to give UCI a 21-16 lead. Back-to-back kills by Smith and Squires extended the Anteater lead to 23-17 and Valerie Brain's attempt went wide, giving the Anteaters set point at 24-17. Carls would connect with Squires, who put away a cross-court shot to tie the match at a set apiece.
UCI pulled away in the third set, scoring six straight points to build a 15-7 lead as Alexandra Hauser and Squires denied Lindsay Dowd at the net. A five-point rally by the Anteaters extended the lead to 11 at 20-9 with Squires delivering the solo block and UCI would cruise to a two-set lead on Olsen's shot down the line.
Neither team was able to establish a substantial lead in the final frame. UCI lead by two at 11-9 on a kill by Hauser but the Aggies would eventually take a two-point lead at 19-17 on a UCI attack error. The see-saw battle continued as UCI managed a 22-20 edge, this time on the block by Hauser and Smith. However, the Aggies used a three-point swing to re-take a 23-22 lead with Katie Denny putting a ball past the Anteater block. With UC Davis leading 28-27 and serving for set point for the fourth time, UCI went to Fleming, who dropped a shot down the middle for the game-tying point. Brain's attempt on the ensuing play went into the net and Carls connected with Squires, who blasted a ball down the middle for the win.
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