Sept. 19, 2007
Box Score
Davis, Calif. - Last season the Tigers needed comeback five set efforts to defeat local rival UC Davis in each of their two meetings, 2007 was a different story. This time the Pacific women's volleyball team earned a hard fought 3-1 victory over the Aggies in the Big West Conference opener for both teams.
With the win the Tigers moved to 7-2 on the season and 1-0 in Big West Conference play, while UC Davis fell to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in conference.
Game scores for the match were: 30-26, 30-28, 26-30 and 30-24.
The match began with each team trading jabs in an effort to feel each other out. Tied at 8-8, the Tigers started to assert themselves behind junior Alexa Anderson (Los Gatos, Calif.). Anderson keyed three consecutive points for the Tigers as Pacific burst out to an 11-8 lead. Moments later, clinging to a 12-11 edge, the Tigers tallied the next five points by forcing four Aggie attacking errors. Sophomores Meagan MimMack (Upland, Calif.) and Masha Vaysburg (Livermore, Calif.) started the Pacific run with a thunderous block. Pacific's lead grew to as much as seven at 27-20, then the Tigers hung on for a 30-26 victory in game one. Anderson and MimMack each posted four kills in the game as Pacific hit a combined .355 with 15 kills and just four errors on 31 attempts. UC Davis, meanwhile, hit .263 with 17 kills and seven errors on 38 attacks.
Playing on the road is sometimes about weathering a storm of emotion from your opponent. The Tigers did just that in game number two with a 30-28 win. Energized by their home crowd, UC Davis controlled the early momentum of game building a 13-11 lead. The Tigers, however, rose to the challenge with back-to-back points on a kill from Anderson and an Aggie error. Tied at 17-17 moments later, the Tigers delivered five consecutive points to take command. This time it was freshman Svenja Engelhardt (Sinsheim, Germany) that got the Tigers rolling with a kill to give Pacific an 18-17 lead, followed by a solo block. MimMack and senior Johanna Hilbers continued the Pacific block party, then Hilbers notched her fourth kill of the match to push the Tigers lead to 21-17. The Pacific rally concluded as the Tigers forced an attacking error from UC Davis outside hitter Chantal Paschetta to take a 22-17 edge. Pacific pushed its lead to as much as six at 26-20 and once again staved off a late UC Davis rally to take a 2-0 lead into the locker room.
Returning to the court the Aggies once again got off to a quick start with an 8-5 lead. Like they did in game two, Pacific responded quickly as the Tigers rattled off five straight points. Engelhardt continued to ignite the Tigers as she sandwiched a kill and a solo block around three UC Davis errors to lift the Tigers to a 10-8 lead. Following an Aggie timeout, UC Davis regained their composure and reclaimed the lead at 14-13. One more time the Tigers raised their intensity with four straight points on an Aggie error, a solo block from Anderson, a quick attack kill from junior setter Shannon Krug (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and capped by a service ace off the hand of Hilbers for a 17-14 lead. Staked to a 23-19 lead moments later the Tigers could not withstand the Aggies late run this time as UC Davis tallied six straight points to claim a 25-23 lead and went on to take game three, 30-26.
The momentum of a game three victory for UC Davis carried over to the fourth battle as the Aggies ran out to a 7-4 lead. Pacific regained the serve by forcing an Aggie error, then tied the game behind kills from Engelhardt and Hilbers at 7-7. That tie was the first of many to come as the two teams battled through 15 ties, the last coming at 24-24. With the game on the line and the match in doubt, Hilbers continued to perform the way a senior should with a pivotal kill followed by a block with Krug to give Pacific a 26-24 advantage. Following an Aggie error, Hilbers added another kill to push Pacific's lead to 28-24. The Tigers went on to claim the game and the match with a 30-24 victory.
Hilbers led the Tigers with 14 kills, while Anderson finished with 13 and Engelhardt and MimMack each posted 12 kills. Krug led the Tigers with 44 assists and a career-high 20 digs for her third double-double of the season.
UC Davis' Erin Turner finished the match with 18 kills to lead the Aggies.
The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday, Sept. 22 as Pacific travels to Fullerton, Calif. to face the Cal State Fullerton Titans. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
