Balanced Attack Leads Anteaters to Win Over Cal Poly
November 05, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. --- Kristin Winkler led all players with 33 digs and four Anteaters delivered double-digit kills as UC Irvine collected a road win again Cal Poly, 27-29, 25-18, 29-27, 21-25, 15-11, Saturday in Mott Gym.
The two teams combined for 205 digs with Winkler recording the second-highest dig mark in UCI single-match history. Winkler set the school record earlier this year with 34 digs against Portland State. Shaina Olsen added a career-high 23 digs to go along with 14 kills and a team-high five blocks while Aly Squires recorded 16 kills and 10 digs. Pauline Acres delivered a personal-best 14 kills while hitting .440 (14-3-25) for the match. Arielle Manz put away a career-high 13 kills on 28 swings with four errors for a .321 hitting clip and Mary Carls topped the team with 36 assists.
The match was a close one from the start as the deficit was never larger than two points at any one time. Cal Poly made the first push late in the match, taking a 20-18 lead on the kill by Jennifer Keddy, who led all players with 28 kills. However, UCI tied the set on back-to-back unforced errors by the Mustangs. Cal Poly bounced back with a three-point run (23-20) and led 24-21, only to see the Anteaters tie the score on kills from Manz and Acres and a Cal Poly error. The two teams traded points and at 27-27, setter Shannon Garrett went to Keddy for the kill and Garrett fired a service ace to clinch the set.
The Anteaters responded in the second frame by jumping out to a 10-5 lead as Olsen put up the solo stuff on Garrett. UCI extended the lead to six at 17-11 and the Anteaters then strung together four consecutive points with Acres delivering a solo block and a key kill in the run for a 21-14 advantage. Cal Poly cobbled together a three-point rally but Cal Poly committed a pair of unforced errors as UCI took the second set.
In the third set, the Mustangs took a 12-9 lead but UCI quickly closed the gap at 14-13 and a baseline winner from Olsen would swing the lead back the Anteaters' way at 17-16. The teams traded points until at 27-27, Alvarez found Olsen for the kill and Carls aced Lauren Law on set point to give UCI a 2-1 set lead.
The battle continued in the fourth set as Cal Poly used a three-point run to pull away from a 9-9 tie and take a 12-9 edge on consecutive unforced errors by UCI. An attack error by Cal Poly's Molly Pon was followed by kills from Squires and Acres to even the score at 12-12. The Mustangs responded with another 4-0 run to lead 16-12 but were unable to hold off the Anteaters, who trimmed the deficit to one at 21-20 on an Olsen kill. That would be all for UCI as Cal Poly out-scored the Anteaters 4-1 to force the deciding game.
In the fifth set, Carls dished the ball to Manz and Acres on consecutive plays and Squires came up with a clutch ace as the Anteaters took a 5-2 lead. Garrett posted her third ace of the match to cap a three-point Cal Poly rally to tie the score (5-5). At 9-9, Marissa Alvarez found Squires and the duo of Squires and Manz denied Keddy at the net for the 11-9 lead. Following a Mustang timeout, Manz paired up with Taylor Smith for the block on Pon, extending UCI's lead to four and Squires knocked down the final two kills for the win.
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