Oct. 11, 2008

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - Behind a career service night from junior Mallori Gibson (Bakersfield, Calif.), the Pacific women's volleyball team picked up a 3-0 sweep of UC Riverside on Saturday, October 11. The victory pushed the Tigers to 5-9 on the year and 5-1 in Big West play while the Highlanders dropped to 7-13 overall and 2-3 in the conference.

Set scores for the match were: 25-11, 25-16, 25-19.

Tied at 3-3 early in the first set, Pacific rolled out nine of the next 11 points to take a commanding 12-5 lead. Gibson and sophomore Svenja Engelhardt (Sinsheim, Germany) each made quick statements as the duo posted a combined five kills and three service aces during the run. Engelhardt led the attack from the outside with three kills and one service, while Gibson led from the service line with two aces and two kills.

Up 20-11 late, the Tigers closed out the first set with authority, notching the final five points on two kills by senior Natalia Tomaszewska (Marklowice, Poland), two UC Riverside errors and finally a kill from Engelhardt to clinch the 25-11 win. Pacific recorded a .552 hitting percentage in the first frame with 17 kills and only one error on 29 attempts.

The Highlanders kept things close through the middle of the second set, forcing six ties, the last coming at 12-12. The Tigers earned the separation they needed by forcing UC Riverside into mistakes. Tomaszewska got the Tigers on a roll with a service ace, then senior Alexa Anderson (Los Gatos, Calif.) made it 14-12 on a cross-court kill. The pressure forced UC Riverside into three errors over the next four points, pushing the Tigers edge to 17-13. Junior Masha Vaysburg (Livermore, Calif.) connected from the middle to make it 18-13, then Anderson delivered a solo block to give Pacific a 19-13 lead. The Tigers went on to take the second set, 25-16 and go into the locker room with a 2-0 lead. Pacific held UC Riverside to a .027 hitting percentage (10 kills and nine errors on 37 swings) in the set and posted a 68% sideout ratio, converting on 11 of 16 chance.

The third and final set allowed the Tigers to assert their dominance quickly as Pacific raced out to a 16-6 lead, behind four service aces from Gibson, one from Engelhardt and one from junior Dancyne Kama (Hilo, Hawaii). The Tigers took the set easily, 25-19, despite being out hit, .455 to .280.

Engelhardt and Gibson led the Tigers with nine kills each, while Anderson and Tomaszewska each finished with seven. Gibson posted a career-high six aces and finished with a team-high 10 digs.

Dominque Cowling and Kelly Fink led UC Riverside with eight kills.

The Tigers return to action on Friday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. against Cal State Fullerton in Titan Gym.