Women’s Volleyball – Thu, Sep. 30, 2021
MERCED, Calif. – Olivia Harden tallied a season-high 18 kills and the University of California, Merced women’s volleyball team swept Marymount California University 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-9) in the 2021 home opener on Thursday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
The Bobcats (4-10, 4-1) start in California Pacific Conference play is tied for their best ever start in program history. UC Merced also started 4-1 in the 2015 season.
Harden’s 18 kills is a three-set career-high and her second highest kills output overall, behind her 22 kills from the 2020 Cal Pac Championship game. The senior also hit a career-high .424 (18/4/33) against Marymount. Harden was the first Bobcat to record a kill in the first two sets and was good for eight kills in the final frame.
Olanasaze Ojo added nine kills on a .353 hitting percentage, while Teola Nowak was good for eight kills and hit .429. Lexus Lagumbay and Brittany Johnson pitched in three kills each.
Serena Choi and Edwena Wong held match-high with 21 assists and 13 digs, respectively. Choi, the reigning Cal Pac Setter of the Week, also held match-high with two blocks.
Other individual notables include ten assists from Bianca Malaluan, 13 digs and three service aces from Lexus Lagumbay, seven digs from Tea Bishop and six from Jalen Carey.
Both Lagumbay and Malaluan’s performance’s allowed them to move up the program record books. Lagumbay is now seventh in program history with 64 career service aces, while Malaluan is seventh with 213 assists.
The Bobcats limited Marymount to a .080 hitting percentage and have held opponents to .100 or less in all four wins this season.
UC Merced led for nearly the entire first and third set, while the second set featured ten lead changes and no lead larger than three points.
In the first set, head coach Ai Prachumsri‘s team managed to pull away with a 7-1 run highlighted by a Brittany Johnson kill. The run put the Bobcats ahead 13-6. The lead got to double figures at 21-11 and then a Marymount setting error pushed the Bobcats lead to a set-high eleven points. A Marymount setting error was also called for game point, allowing the Bobcats to take a 1-0 match lead.
Marymount scored the first two points of set two, only to be followed by back-to-back Harden kills and a block by Choi and Johnson which marked the first of ten lead changes the rest of the set. A little later after the block, the Bobcats fell behind 10-7. It was the…
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