The women’s volleyball team (9-13 overall, 4-6 Big West) secured a win against the UC Davis Aggies in three straight sets on Friday, winning 25-22, 25-20, 25-12.
The Matadors were able to bounce back coming into tonight’s matchup with a two-game losing streak against Long Beach State and Cal Poly and were able to come up with a victory.
The Matadors were able to dominate the Aggies in three straight sets while hitting for their best percentage of the season with an advantage in the hitting category .350 to .258 in the match. The Matadors also held the advantage in multiple categories throughout the match, leading in digs 37 to 34, 44 to 32 in assists and eight to one in aces served.
The Matadors were led by sophomore outside hitter Seyvion Waggoner with 12 kills for .611, freshman outside hitter Taylor Orshoff with 11 kills for .588, and sophomore outside hitter Nicole Nevarez finished with 11 kills for .320 in the matchup. Waggoner is currently leading the team with the most kills for the season with 279 for .231, slightly ahead of Nevarez with her total of 239 for .185, and Orshoff added to her total of 141 for .230 and is third in hitting for Matadors this season.
Sophomore setter Hannah Merjil led the team with 22 assists along with senior setter Kamalu Makekau-Whittaker contributing with 15 assists throughout the matchup. Sophomore outside hitter Lexi McLeod had the most digs for the Matadors with 10 for the game and seven for junior libero Makayla Bradford. Makekau-Whittaker currently leads the team in assists this season with 400 and Bradford leads the team in digs with 304 for the season.
“I think we performed really well,” Orshoff said on how the team performed. “That was one of our best matches this season, we really killed it tonight.”
Head coach Jeff Stork thought the team played outstanding and were able to capitalize on scoring in runs throughout the match.
“They were outstanding. We won 3-0, Hayden Warnock had a great run at the end I think it was 14 to 10 at one point and ended up being 25-12 so we outscored them 11-2 in the last set,” Stork said. “Runs like that are hard to do consistently, anytime we can score points in runs it is a good thing and we did that multiple times tonight.”
The Matadors were in control for most of the match against the Aggies in the three total sets, as there were only 14 ties and six lead changes, with two coming in each set.
“I thought we were in control most of the match with only having two lead changes in each set,” Stork said. “So that is good volleyball right there.”
With the Matadors coming into the matchup with a two-game losing streak, Orshoff believed this win was important for the team to bounce back at home.
“It was really important. I think we really needed something to lift us up after those two losses and we really brought it tonight in our home gym,” Orshoff said.
“Well every win is important but at home tends to be a little more special … you have a little bit more support ” Stork said on the importance of this win at home. “The atmosphere tends to be a little bit more in our favor but again every match is important. We don’t take any match differently but it is nicer to play in front of your fans and your family than it is playing on the road.”
The Matadors will be looking to build off this win in their next matchup on Saturday, concluding their third game this week before going on the road to face Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine next week.
“Study volleyball, that is all we’re asking the girls … to play a little bit of what we call kaizen, which has to do with being one percent better every day,” Stork said on what the team needs to continue to work on. “We are doing that actually, we are doing some things in practice that I am seeing out here in games so it is nice to have that transfer from practice over to matches.”
The Matadors will be concluding their two-game homestand in a matchup against the UC Riverside Highlanders (5-16 overall, 1-9 Big West) on Nov. 2 at the Matadome at 7 p.m.
