Sept. 24, 2008
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific women's volleyball team earned their first victory of the season, defeating UC Davis 3-1 in the Big West Conference opener for both teams on Wednesday, Sept. 24.
Set scores for the match were: 25-22, 30-28, 23-25 and 25-13.
The victory lifted Pacific to 1-8 on the season and 1-0 in the Big West Conference. UC Davis, meanwhile, fell to 8-6 overall and 0-1 in conference.
Playing in front of their home crowd for the first time in 2008, the Tigers got out to a quick start against Big West and local rival UC Davis in the first game by jumping out to an 8-3 lead. Junior Mallori Gibson (Bakersfield, Calif.) led the Tigers early charge with four kills in the first 11 points. The five points of separation kept Pacific in front throughout the first game, but things get tight at 22-20, forcing a timeout from Pacific head coach Charlie Wade. Sophomore Svenja Engelhardt (Sinsheim, Germany) rallied the Tigers with her sixth kill of the set. The two teams traded points as senior Alexa Anderson (Los Gatos, Calif.) capped the first set on a cross-court kill for a 25-22 win. As a team the Tigers hit .275 with 19 kills and eight errors on 40 attempts, while UC Davis had just nine kills and three errors on 33 attempts for a .182 hitting percentage.
The second set was far from easy for the Tigers. UC Davis held the lead for the majority of the set, but Pacific refused to let the Aggies get too far away, staying within three points throughout the set. With UC Davis leading 23-21 late, another timeout from Wade sparked the Tigers. Senior setter Shannon Krug (Colorado Springs, Colo.) took matters into her own hands, scoring on a quick attack to make it 23-22. Junior Masha Vaysburg (Livermore, Calif.) stepped up on the next play with a solo block of UC Davis Renee Ibekwe. Both sidelines had opportunities to claim the set as five more ties followed. The Tigers spoiled four set-points for UC Davis, the last coming at 28-27 behind a critical kill from Engelhardt to make it 28-28. Anderson followed with back-to-back kills, lifting Pacific to a 30-28 win and a 2-0 lead.
Coming out of the break UC Davis was able to turn the tables on Pacific in the third set. This time Pacific held a late lead but let it slip away. The Tigers were up 23-22 on Engelhardt's 14th kill of the match. UC Davis, however, responded with back-to-back kills to take a 24-23 lead. Wade tried to pull another one out with a late time out, but the Aggies were ready. UC Davis took the set on a kill from Chantal Paschetta to earn the 25-23 win.
The third set loss, fired up the Tigers as Pacific delivered their best effort of the match in the fourth set. The Tigers bounced out to 6-2 lead behind two kills from Engelhardt, two UC Davis errors as well as a kill and an ace from Pacific senior Natalia Tomaszewska (Marlowice, Poland). Leading 9-6 moments later, the Tigers snagged five of the next six points to build a 14-7 edge. Pacific went on to take the set, 25-13 as the Tigers hit .333 and held UC Davis to a -.120 percentage.
Engelhardt led the way for Pacific with 18 kills and a .424 hitting percentage, while Gibson notched her third double-double of the season with 17 kills and 15 digs. Anderson rounded out the Tigers in double figures with 16 kills.
Ibekwe led UC Davis with 12 kills in the match.
The Tigers return to the floor on Friday, Sept. 26 as Pacific hosts No. 22 Long Beach State at 7 p.m. in the Alex G. Spanos Center. The match will take on increased significance as the Tigers will retire Olympic Silver Medalist Jennifer Joines No. 6 jersey prior to the match.
