Sept. 29, 2007

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific women's volleyball team earned their first victory over a ranked opponent under head coach Charlie Wade as the Tigers defeated No. 20 Cal Poly, 3-1, on Saturday, Sept. 29.

The Tigers last victory over a ranked opponent came on Oct. 1, 2004 when Pacific defeated No. 8 UC Santa Barbara, 3-1, in Santa Barbara, Calif.

With the win the Tigers moved to 9-3 on the season and 3-1 in the Big West Conference. Cal Poly, meanwhile, fell to 9-7 overall and 3-1 in conference play.

Game scores for the match were: 14-30, 38-36, 30-27 and 30-26.

Trailing 1-0, the Tigers seized the momentum of the match with a 38-36 marathon victory in the second frame. Pacific and Cal Poly battled through an amazing 24 ties and eight lead changes in the game alone.

Leading 23-22, the Tigers appeared to take control of the game as senior Johanna Hilbers (Omaha, Neb.) nailed a solo block, then freshman Svenja Engelhardt (Sinsheim, Germany) slammed down a scramble from Hilbers to give the Tigers a 25-22 lead. Following a Cal Poly timeout, the Mustangs rallied with three straight points to tie it up at 25-25. Moments later at 28-28, the Tigers earned the first game point behind Engelhardt second service ace of the match. Cal Poly, however, answered on a kill from Gaby Rivera to tie the game at 29-29. Back and forth the team traded blows as Pacific earned three more game point chances, only to see Cal Poly turn them away each time.

Tied at 33-33, the Mustangs earned their first game point as Kylie Atherstone slammed down her 12th kill of the match to push Cal Poly ahead 33-32. This time it was Pacific with the answer as Hilbers converted the slide play to even the game at 33-33. Following another Atherstone kill, junior Shannon Krug (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored on a quick set attack to tie the game at 34-34. Cal Poly got one more chance to take the game, but sophomore Meagan MimMack (Upland, Calif.) notched her eighth kill to extend the game further. The 24th and final tie came at 36-36 with Atherstone serving. The Tigers found junior Alexa Anderson (Los Gatos, Calif.) along the right side of the court to earn their sixth game point at 37-36. On the next play, Pacific went to Anderson again for her seventh kill of the game as Pacific ran to the locker room tied at 1-1.

Despite the emotional high of winning game two, the third game and the match remained close heading into the first media timeout as Cal Poly held a 15-14 edge over the Tigers. That's when Pacific seized control of the game and the match. The Tigers scored seven consecutive points on the serve of junior Kara Uhl (Cypress, Calif.) to build a 21-15 lead. Hilbers and Engelhardt got the Tigers rolling as the duo each notched two kills to force a Cal Poly timeout with Pacific leading 18-15. The Tigers' run, however, did not stop there are Hilbers roofed Dominque Oloqolafe, then Krug converted a quick attack to make it 20-15. Hilbers and Krug teammed to cap the Pacific run with a block of Ali Waller to give the Tigers a six point lead. Cal Poly pulled within two points late in the game at 28-26, but Engelhardt ended the threat with a kill from Krug to make it 29-26. Following a service error, MimMack gave Pacific a 2-1 lead as she pounded down her 11th kill to cement Pacific's 30-27 win.

Game four followed a similar pattern as the Tigers found their rhythm while Uhl was at the service line then rolled to victory. Trailing 13-12, Hilbers sent Uhl to the line with a kill from Krug. This Pacific rally netted four straight points on a Cal Poly error, followed by two kills from Uhl and one by Hilbers to push the lead to 17-13. Moments later the Tigers pushed their lead to six at 22-16 on a kill from Anderson and an attacking error by Cal Poly's Olowolafe. Pacific did not allow the Mustangs any closer than four points the rest of the way as the Tigers earned the victory with a 30-26 win.

The first game of the match was far from an indication of what was to come as the Mustangs dominated Pacific, 30-14. Cal Poly hit a match-high .464 with 14 kills and just one error on 28 attempts. Pacific, meanwhile, hit -.051 with 11 kills and 13 errors on 39 attempts.

In the final three games of the match, Pacific hit a combined .335 with 65 kills and just 21 errors on 161 swings, The Tigers hit over .300 in each of the final three games. Cal Poly, meanwhile, hit a combined .254 with 49 kills and 15 errors on 134 attempts over the final three games.

Engelhardt finished with a team-high 20 kills and a career-high 16 digs for her third career double-double. Hilbers finished with 19 ills and posted a .405 hitting percentage. Three other Tigers reached double figures in kills as Anderson finished with 17, while MimMack and Uhl each had 13.

Atherstone led the Mustangs with a match-high 22 kills.

The Tigers victory over Cal Poly broke the Mustangs streak of nine consecutive road victories in Big West Conference play. The last road conference loss for Cal Poly also came at the Alex G. Spanos Center as the Tigers defeated the Mustangs, 3-1, in 2005.

The Tigers will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 5 as Pacific travels to Irvine, Calif. to take on the UC Irvine Anteaters.