Sept. 23, 2006

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. - Sophomore Alexa Anderson recorded career-highs with 25 kills and 22 digs to lead the Pacific women's volleyball team to a four-game Big West Conference victory over UC Riverside on Saturday, Sept. 23, at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

The win moved Pacific to 3-10 on the season and 1-1 in the Big West Conference, while UC Riverside fell to 1-12 overall and 0-2 in conference.

Game scores for the match were: 30-22, 31-33, 30-23, and 30-25.

Anderson asserted herself in the first game of the match, hitting an astounding .727 with eight kills and no errors on 11 swings. While Anderson was the driving force in game one, the Tigers took control of game one with contributions from the rest of the team. Tied at 9-9, Pacific scored six straight points on three kills from sophomore Natalia Tomaszewska (Marklowice, Poland), one kill from junior Johanna Hilbers (Omaha, Neb.), an ace from junior Julie Magud (Stockton, Calif.) and a block from Hilbers, Tomaszewska and freshman Meagan MimMack (Upland, Calif.). Staked to a 15-9 lead, the Tigers cruised to a 30-22 win in game one.

UC Riverside picked up their defensive intensity at the net in game two as the Highlanders nabbed three solo blocks and five block assists to win five points. Tied at 31-31, Angie Mitchell punctuated the game for UC Riverside with back-to-back solo blocks to lift the Highlanders to a 33-31, sending the two teams into the break tied at 1-1.

Pacific came out firing in game three, scoring five of the first six points to build a 5-1 edge and never surrendered the lead . Moments later with a 7-4, Pacific rattled off five more points to push their lead to 12-4. Anderson and Tomaszewska led the early run for Pacific as the duo combined for five kills and a service ace by Tomaszewska. UC Riverside used a six point run of their own to pull within four at 19-15, but Pacific responded with four consecutive points to put the game out of reach. The Tigers went on to take game two, 30-23.

The two teams traded the first six points of the fourth and final game. Game four remained close through the midpoint of the game as the Tigers held a 16-14 advantage just after the media timeout taken when the first team reaches 15 points. Pacific put an end to any thoughts UC Riverside had of a comeback by taking seven of the next eight points to lead 23-15. Defense led this run for the Tigers as Pacific forced five Highlander errors, including three via the block. Pacific went on to take the game and the match, 30-25.

Anderson's 25 kills led all attackers, while three other Tigers finished in double figures in kills. Tomaszewska posted 14 kills, Hilbers finished with 13 kills and MimMack had 10 kills.

Ashley Halperin led the way for UC Riverside as she finished with 20 kills. Halperin also nabbed 18 digs for a double-double.

The Tigers return to the court on Saturday, Sept. 30 as Pacific hosts Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. in the Alex G. Spanos Center.