Women’s Volleyball – Fri, Oct. 21, 2022 at 9:20 PM
MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women’s volleyball team swept Providence Christian College 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 29-27) on Friday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
The Bobcats (10-11, 7-7) sweep was their fifth of the season, four of which have come on Hostetler Court.
Bianca Malaluan registered her third consecutive double-double to help lead the Bobcats to victory, finishing with 17 assists, eleven digs and two service aces. Jaide Davis and Ellie Gordon each tallied nine assists to contribute to the Bobcats offense that recorded a three-set season-high 44 kills overall.
Alexa Ultreras and Olanasaze Ojo were the Bobcats top targets and the duo answered the call with ten kills and nine kills, respectively. Ultreras’ ten kills marked a career-high.
Valentina Evans was good for eight kills on a .353 hitting percentage to go along with three blocks. Hannah Dillingham added seven kills. Sera Riley finished with a career-high five kills without an error on ten attempts.
Destiny Lei Ramilo tallied nine digs and scored match point with a service ace.
Other notables include seven digs and two service aces from Tea Bishop, six digs from Haley Branley, and two blocks each from Semiramis Tanasecu and Kennedi Baker.
A Branley 8-0 service run was the difference maker in the opening set. She took the service line with the Bobcats leading 10-8 and helped her team garner a double figure lead at 18-8. Evans had three kills and a block during Branley and the Bobcats run. The Bobcats led by as many as eleven points at 21-10 en rout to the dominant first set win.
It was a Malaluan service run that created the Bobcats initial separation in the second set and back-to-back aces put UC Merced on top 11-8. Soon after, two straight Ojo kills extended the lead five points. UC Merced led by eight points at 20-12, but had to halt a late rally as Providence came back within a point at 22-21. Evans and Baker combined for a block to score the Bobcats 23rd point, and then an Ultreras kill followed by a Providence attack error secured the frame and put the Bobcats up 2-0 in the match.
A back and forth third set saw 12 ties with the majority coming in crunch time. Riley pulled the Bobcats even with Providence at 20-20 and then back-to-back Dillingham kills put the Bobcats up 23-20, but it was the opponent who would end up having the first chance at set point. The Bobcats extended the frame with an Evans kill and…
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