STOCKTON, Calif. – The University of the Pacific volleyball team won its West Coast Conference home opener with a 23-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-14 win in front of a rowdy crowd in the Alex G. Spanos Center on Tuesday night.
The Tigers (4-10, 1-2 WCC) overcame a first set loss to win the next three sets. In the final three sets, Pacific hit .346 and came away with 10 blocks to secure the win. For the match, sophomore
Alexa Edwards had her fifth double double of the season with 14 kills and 11 digs to go along with three blocks. Her efforts were not alone as it was an all-around team effort in the win.
San Francisco (0-11, 0-3 WCC) was led by a 13-kill effort from Shyia Richardson. Also for the Dons, Aylen Ayub had a double double with 10 assists and 10 digs.
Freshman Jenna Heller nearly had a double double with 24 assists and nine digs; junior Sedona Sherman had eight kills and three blocks; senior Kennedy Kaminsky had six kills and seven blocks; sophomore Darina Kumanova had eight kills and two blocks; senior Jadyn Tubbs had a team-high 13 digs; senior Gabby Leo came off the bench and provided 11 assists and a team-high four service aces.
Set 1
The opening set was tied on 12 occasions and saw six lead changes. Neither team would be able to build a lead larger than three. The two teams split the first 18 points of the match. After USF managed to take a 15-12 lead, the Tigers came back with four-straight to prompt a Dons timeout. Pacific managed to stretch it to five consecutive as
Megan Nishimura recorded her second ace of the set to put the Tigers ahead 17-15. USF rallied to tie the set at 21 to prompt a Pacific timeout. The two teams traded the next two points before USF scored three of the final four points of the set for a 25-23 victory.
Set 2
The second set started similar to the first as the two teams traded the lead back and forth until the Tigers rattled off four-straight points to overcome a 15-14 deficit to take a 17-15 lead. Pacific remained in the lead for the remainder of the set to even the match at a set apiece.
Set 3
In the third set, back-to-back kills by
Sedona Sherman and
Alexa Edwards put the host Tigers ahead 8-6. A 7-3 run by Pacific put them ahead for the remainder of the set. The Tigers hit .345 in the set to go along with six blocks for the lead in the match two sets to one.
Alexa Edwards had five more kills to go along with seven assists from
Jenna Heller and four assists from
Gabby Leo, plus
Kennedy Kaminsky had four blocks.
Set 4
Pacific closed out the match with a fourth set win by a 25-14 margin highlighted by a 15-4 run after the set was tied at 10. After an unsuccessful challenge by the Pacific coaches, the Tigers scored five of the next six points on its way to the decisive run. Four players for Pacific had multiple kills and
Gabby Leo had four assists to go along with four aces to lead the Tigers.
Next, it will be a quick turnaround for the Tigers, who will continue WCC play on Thursday night at 6 p.m. at the University of Portland.
