Anteaters Bested By Aggies In Three
October 06, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine dominated the blocking game but was unable to handle UC Davis in a 25-23, 25-21, 25-20 loss Saturday at Crawford Court.
Shannon Fleming led UCI (8-11, 3-3) with seven block assists as UCI recorded 20 block assists to the Aggies' eight. Aly Squires paced the team with 11 kills and fell just short of a double-double with nine digs while Sydney Wright chipped in 10 kills. Kristin Winkler had 14 digs while Molly Yoder also reached double-digits with 12 digs.
The Anteaters trailed early in the opening set as UC Davis went on a 4-1 run to take a 13-8 lead on an unforced error by UCI, forcing a timeout. UCI closed the gap to two points at 14-12 on as Fleming and Marissa Alvarez sent back an attempt by Allison Whitson but at 16-13, the Aggies put together a three-point rally to build a 19-13 lead. UCI did not go away, scoring seven consecutive points and pushing through two UC Davis timeouts to tie the score at 22-22 as Wright tooled the ball off the Aggie block. However, Lindsay Dowd found Devon Damelio to halt UCI's run and with the scored tied at 23, Dowd went to Valerie Brain on back-to-back plays to take the first frame.
Aggie rallies hurt the Anteaters again in set No. 2 as UC Davis scored five straight points to take an early 8-5 lead. The lead grew to four but UCI battled and claimed a 17-16 edge as a dig by Fleming dropped into the back corner for a kill and was followed by the middle blocker's only ace of the match. UC Davis answered with a pair of kills from Whitson and an Anteater error. The Aggies would be able to hold off the Anteaters and Brain delivered again on set point.
In the third set, UCI had to contend with a four-run rally by the Aggies and trailed early 9-5. The team rebounded by out-scoring Davis, 6-1, to knot the frame at 12-12. The Aggies would answer back with a 5-1 run, opening up a four-point lead at 17-13. UCI closed the gap to three at 22-19 on a kill from Wright but Damelio but the match proved to be out of reach as Katie Quinn sent back a UCI attempt to complete the sweep.
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