University of California, Merced – Bobcats Battle Back But Fall in Four Sets to La Sierra

MERCED, Calif. – Three Bobcats held match-high in different statistical categories but the University of California, Merced women’s volleyball team fell in four sets to La Sierra University, 1-3 (14-25, 16-25, 26-24, 24-26) in the first of a three-game homestand Thursday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.

The Bobcats (10-15, 5-2) loss was just their second at home this year and snapped a season-long three-match winning streak.

Olivia Harden held match-high with 19 kills on a .311 success rate (19/5/45), her highest ever hitting percentage with at least 40 attempts. Harden’s 19 kills also tied her-season high and marked her fifth contest of the year with at least 15 kills.

Lexus Lagumbay, the program’s single-season service ace record holder, led all players with five aces. She also stuffed the stat sheet with ten kills, eight digs and two blocks. Thursday night was Lagumbay’s fifth game of the campaign with double figure kills and multiple service aces.

Olanasaze Ojo also held a match-high and tied her season-high with seven blocks, one solo. Three of her blocks came in the final frame. 

Edwena Wong was also key defensively and neared a season-high with 20 digs. 

Both Wong and Ojo moved up the program record books with their respective defensive performances. Wong passed Salamasina Satale for eighth in program history with 484 career digs, while Ojo passed Madison Mitchell and Emily Romo for ninth all-time with 101 career blocks.

Serena Choi and Bianca Malaluan each tallied 17 assists. Choi added two service aces and two blocks to extend her service ace streak to a career-high five straight matches.

Annamarie Caldero pitched in two service aces.

Other individual notables include eight digs from Destiny Lei Ramilo, four kills from Valentina Evans and three blocks from Teola Nowak.

The Bobcats never led in the first set and fell behind by double figures as early as the 14-4 mark. Lacey Gallagher responded to the double figure deficit with a kill, but La Sierra’s middle blocker answered right back and the Bobcats trailed by at least ten points the rest of the frame. The biggest deficit was 14 points at 23-9.

Set two was friendlier to the Bobcats and back-to-back kills from Harden and Evans put the home team on top for the first time. Although the lead lasted for just one rally, the Bobcats remained in striking distance until late and were within four points at the 19-15 mark. Then, a solo block from the 6’4″…