Nov. 21, 2009
Box Score
Stockton, Calif. - In their final match of the 2009 season, the Pacific women's volleyball team could not get past the visiting UC Davis Aggies as they fell 3-0 on Saturday, November 21. The Tigers closed out their season with an overall record of 17-11 and a Big West record of 7-9 while the Aggies finished the regular season 20-10 overall and 11-5 in the conference.
Set scores for the match were: 25-22, 25-14, 25-15.
Prior to the match, the Tigers honored their six seniors who were playing their final match. Seniors Mallori Gibson (Bakersfield, Calif.), Dancyne Kama (Hilo, Hawaii), Olivia Riley (Agua Dulce, Calif.), Natalia Tomaszewska (Marklowice, Poland) and Masha Vaysburg (Livermore, Calif.) all closed out their careers with the Tigers while Carly Hiromoto (Aiea, Hawaii), who redshirted the season due to injury, may apply for a fifth year next season.
After an emotional tribute to their seniors, the Tigers hit the floor looking to pay back the Aggies for the conference opening loss they suffered in Davis, Calif., two months prior. However, it was not to be for the Tigers on the night as the Aggies took put a strangle hold on the match late in the first set and never let up until they snuffed out any comeback hopes by Pacific. The first set of the match proved to be the closest set of the night for both teams as the Tigers had their chances to capture the set and get on the scoreboard first, but they were unable to take advantage of late opportunities to put the Aggies away.
Throughout the first set, the Tigers were on the winning side of a back-and forth battle with the Aggies, with their largest lead of three points coming early in the set. Despite the early lead, the Tigers quickly saw the Aggies jump back into the set as both teams played even until the final tie score of the set occurred at 21-21. With a race to four on its hands, Pacific could not keep pace with the Aggie attack as UC Davis took four of the final five points, closing the set with a double block, a sing of what was in store for the Tigers.
In the second set, the Aggie defense came out in full force, posting five team blocks in the set while holding the Tigers to a negative hitting percentage as Pacific posted eight kills and 11 errors in 41 attacks. The stifling defense allowed the Aggies to race out to an early lead and never look back as they cruised to an 11 point win in the set and a commanding two sets to none advantage.
The momentum gained in the second set carried over for the Aggies into the third set as they again jumped out to a big early lead from which the Tigers could not recover. Before the Tigers could react, UC Davis held an 8-2 advantage and a six point lead that the Tigers would not be able to crack the rest of the way as the Aggies tallied a 10 point third set victory and with it the match. In the set, the Aggies posted their best hitting percentage of the night, tallying a .474 percentage with 21 kills and only three errors on 38 attacks. In the set both Kayla Varney and Allison Whitson led the way with five kills while Melanie Adams added four to finish with a match-high 12 kills.
For the Tigers, junior Svenja Engelhardt (Sinsheim, Germany) led the way with 11 kills while also adding six digs defensively. Gibson closed out her career with eight kills in the match while also adding a team-high nine digs and two service aces. As a team Pacific posted a .113 hitting percentage as they tallied 35 kills and 22 errors on 115 attempts.
The Aggies were led by Adams' 12 kills while she also added a team-best 12 digs to post the double-double. Varney and Whitson finished the night with 11 kills a piece as the Aggies tallied 46 kills and and just 10 errors on 98 swings to post a .367 hitting percentage.
Overall, the Tigers will graduate a combined 1,815 kills, 2,621 assists, 226 service aces, 1,459 digs and 618 blocks with the departure of their seniors. The Tigers will look to replace their losses next season with the combination of returning starters, reserves and the addition of new players into the mix.
