Bulldogs drop opener in Bakersfield to UC Davis

Friday, September 20

Bakersfield, CA

2:00 PM PT

Fresno State

5-5

UC Davis

7-4

UC Davis

Fresno State

Bulldogs drop opener in Bakersfield to UC Davis

9/20/2019 5:26:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Andrew Tomsky / Assistant Director of Communications

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Desiree Sukhov recorded her sixth double-double of the season and Lauren Sabbatini had a career-high nine kills but UC Davis outlasted Fresno State, 3-1 (25-18, 25-20, 17-25, 25-17), on Friday afternoon at the Roadrunner Classic in Bakersfield.

Fresno State (5-5) forced a fourth set after falling behind 2-0 but UC Davis (7-4) took a big early lead in the fourth to finish off the match. The Bulldogs and Aggies were playing in the second match of the tournament after host CSU Bakersfield defeated San Francisco, 3-2, earlier on Friday.

Sukhov tallied 15 kills and 10 digs while adding four blocks and two service aces. Grace Doyle led the team with five blocks and three aces and had four kills while Reagan Leonard posted 18 digs and Madelyn Halteman had 37 assists, five digs, three kills, and two blocks.

How it Happened
The first set was tied 7-7 before UC Davis took a lead it would not relinquish, using a 6-2 run to lead 13-9. The Aggies held the Bulldogs to .135 hitting in the first set with a 5-2 edge in bocks, taking a 20-11 lead and holding a 23-15 advantage before the 'Dogs scored three straight points. After a timeout UC Davis got a kill and would win the set on a misplay by the Bulldogs.

UC Davis had four aces and held the Bulldogs to .125 hitting in the second set to take a 2-0 match lead. Fresno State trailed by just a 17-16 score after three straight points, two of which came on kills from Sabbatini, but the Aggies came back with a 5-0 run out of a timeout and went on to complete the set win 25-20.

Sabbatini had five kills on a .500 hitting percentage to lead the Bulldog comeback in the third set. The 'Dogs outhit the Aggies .312-.133 in the set and had four service aces. Fresno State led 5-4 before going on a 6-0 run, which included two kills apiece from Sabbatini and Halteman and an ace from Doyle, to jump ahead 11-4. Fresno State led by at least four points for the remainder of the set, which fittingly ended on a Sabbatini kill.

The Aggies blitzed out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth set and led for the duration. UC Davis had five blocks in the set and limited the Bulldogs to just nine kills with eight attack errors. After going down 20-11 Fresno State scored five straight points to get back within a 20-16 deficit but couldn't get any closer as UCD ended the set on a 5-1 run to finish the match.

Notes

Redshirt freshman Julia Handy made her first start as a Bulldog and played as an attacker, tallying two kills with four digs, three blocks, and a service ace.
Fresno State had fewer aces than its opponent for just the third time this season as UC Davis had a slight 8-7 advantage.
The Bulldogs won the first set in four of their first five matches of the year but have now lost the first set in five straight matches.
UC Davis defeated Fresno State for the first time since 2010 as the 'Dogs had won the last three meetings.
Junior Savanah Smith missed her fourth straight match due to injury.

What's Next
The Bulldogs will play twice on Saturday, facing San Francisco at noon before closing the tournament against host CSU Bakersfield at 7 p.m.

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