FULLERTON — Aggie senior middle blockers Katie Denny and Betsy Sedlak combined for 17 kills and .389 hitting but Cal State Fullerton employed late scoring runs in each set of a 25-22, 25-21, 25-22 sweep over UC Davis in Big West Conference women’s volleyball action at Titan Gym on Saturday.

The Aggies lost their second straight match, falling to 18-5 overall and 4-4 in conference. The Titans, the defending Big West champions, improve to 9-10 for the year and 4-3 in league action.

Sedlak posted nine kills with just one error, while Denny totaled 8-2-14 attacking numbers to go with a match-high six blocks. Junior outside hiter Allison Whitson matched Sedlak’s kills total on 32 swings. Juniors Kaitlyn Plum and Caroline Mercado patrolled the UCD floor defense with 11 and 10 digs, respectively.

For CSF, junior Kayla Neto put down 15 kills on 44 attempts, senior Leah Maurer provided 13 kills and .300 hitting, and junior Gabrielle Dewberry led all players with 17 digs.

After falling into a 10-5 hole to start the opener, the Aggies fought back to within a one-point deficit on three occasions. After Sedlak and Whitson scored kills to bring their team to within 15-14, Titan sophomore Bre Moreland fired three kills in a span of four points to bump Fullerton’s led to 19-14. Ayana Whitaker later assisted on back-to-back blocks to put the score at 23-17. Although Denny landed three kills to help UCD score five of the next six, Maurer put down the winner to send the Titans to the match lead.

Whitson had a kill and two blocks to propel the Aggies to a 5-1 start in the second set before CSF stormed back in taking an 11-8 edge. A Valerie Brain kill helped UCD cut the edge to a single point, and Plum’s serving later helped tie the frame at 13-13. Both teams traded points to a 15-15 deadlock, then Moreland struck again with three kills in a 5-1 run to set CSF to a 21-16 advantage. Denny scored a block assist and a kill, then opposite Devon Damelio smacked a kill to bring the Aggies to within a 21-20 case. However, the Titans finished strong to close out the set. Neto had a solo stuff and a kill to establish a 24-21 triple set point before Dewberry’s ace finished the task.

In similar fashion to the second set, UCD came out strong in the third, scoring the first four points after the break. The Aggies managed to protect their lead for most of the stanza, with Whitson’s kill putting her team’s edge at 17-15. Yet again, the Titans assembled a sizable scoring run, this time behind the offense of Neto and Maurer. That tandem combined for five kills in a 7-2 run that pushed Fullerton from its two-point deficit to a 21-18 lead. UCD twice scored back-to-back points in the final push but could never equalize. Setter Andrea Ragan, who had assisted on 40 of her teammates’ kills, put down the match-winner to seal the sweep.

The Titans enjoyed a 40-point edge over their guests in attack percentage, hitting at a .238 rate to the Aggies’ .198. More importantly, Fullerton proved more effective in side-out situations, converting at 59, 52 and 72 percent in the three sets to UCD’s stats of 51, 45 and 63 percent.

The Aggies return to the road for continued Big West action at UC Irvine on Friday.

Comments

comments