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Women's Volleyball:
Solid Blocking Leads to UC Irvine Win Over Pacific
Nov. 8, 2008 IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine used an 11.5 to 5 block advantage to defeat Pacific 25-17, 15-25, 25-21, 25-15 Saturday in Big West Conference action at Crawford Court. With the win, UCI moved into second place in the Big West at 9-3 (14-11 overall) following Cal Poly's (8-4) five-set loss to league leader Long Beach State (10-2) tonight. The Tigers dropped to 9-14 and 8-5. Chelsea Ellis led the defensive effort with a match-high five block assists while Alexandra Hauser and Kari Pestolesi added four apiece. UCI also out-dug the Tigers with five Anteaters, hitting double-digits with Lauren Kellerman posting a team-high 15. Pestolesi picked up 13 digs while leading the offense with a season-high 19 kills. The outside hitter pounded a .341 average, committing just four errors in 44 attempts. Setter Taryn Robertson put together another solid match, posting 44 assists, 10 digs, seven kills and two block assist. Kellerman put away 12 kills while firing a service ace and delivering two block assists. Devon Sutherland totaled two winners from the baseline while adding 12 digs. The Anteaters cruised to a 7-1 lead in the first set with Sutherland recording two aces to force a Tiger timeout. UOP shaved the lead to two at 9-7 on a kill by Alexa Anderson but the Anteaters responded with an 8-2 run to build a 17-9 lead on two kills by Pestolesi and a Kellerman service ace. UOP came as close as six at 21-15 and Shannon Krug's service error on set point would give UCI the win.
Tied 6-6 in the second set, Pacific mounted two four-point rallies to take a 14-8 lead over the Anteaters. The lead extended to eight (19-11) on a kill from Alexa Anderson and would go on to score the final three points of the frame to tie the match at a set apiece.
Near the mid-point of the third set, UCI used a four-point run to lead 16-12 as Pestolesi and Hauser paired up for the block on Mallori Gibson resulting in a Tiger timeout. UOP answered with three straight to cut the lead to one at 16-15 on Svenja Engelhardt's ace but three UCI kills and a UOP attack error would give the Anteaters a five point lead at 21-16. Engelhard's kill brought the Tigers to within two at 23-21 but Robertson found Pestolesi and Hauser on back-to-back plays for the win. It was all UCI in the final set as the Anteaters put together a 9-2 run to establish a comfortable 18-10 advantage. Larissa Nordyke belted a Robertson assist from the back row to gibe UCI match point and the triple block of Robertson, Ellis and Nordyke sealed the win. |
