Box Score Sept. 10, 2016 Box Score
RENO, Nev. - Nevada Wolf Pack volleyball (7-2) showed off its grit Saturday night, taking a five set victory against UC Davis (4-5) to extend the team's win streak to seven.
The match was another nail bitter for the Wolf Pack as the sets went 23-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-17 and 15-11Senior Madison Morell led the team offensively with 26 kills and a double-double, now No. 9 in the Wolf Pack record books in career points. Fellow senior Kathryn Groenweghe set her third single match high of the tournament with 15 kills. Junior Madison Foley recorded another double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs, while senior Madison Thorpe got her own double digit digs at 10.
"This team has so much heart and grit," said Groenweghe. "We've faced a lot of adversity this season, being down and coming back."
"Last year, we wouldn't have done this," Morell echoed. "We didn't win five set matches. We're playing harder and with more confidence and it's really showing on the court."
The Wolf Pack found themselves in a bit of a hole to start the match, down 3-1 to the Aggies after some aggressive offense on the opposing side of the net. With the Pack down 9-5, Foley went on a tear with two kills and a block to bring the score to 9-9. Two critical mistakes from the Aggies gave up their lead, giving it to Nevada at 11-9. Behind the Foley serve, the Pack took a 14-10 lead to pull away from the Aggies. Morell passed her second milestone of the tournament with career point number 1,021, good enough for ninth in the Nevada record books. The Pack led 18-13. Nevada sat with a three point lead at 22-19, but the Aggie offense woke up, tying the match at 23. UC Davis would go on to score the next two points, taking the match 25-23.
UC Davis carried over its momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 3-1 lead. Behind the powerful play of Groenweghe, Nevada evened it up at four. Freshman Ayla Fresenius put the ball down to the Pack its first lead of the set at 5-4, and Nevada quickly pulled up by three 9-6. The Pack continued through the set with a precarious two point lead. The lead began to expand, and the Aggies were forced to call a timeout when the margin grew to four, Nevada up 15-11. The Aggies attempted to close the gap the best they could, but Nevada kept their distance, taking the second set 25-18 to even up the match. Foley recorded her second ace of the match in the second set to help maintain her lead in the Mountain West.
Nevada wasn't messing around in the third set, taking a 2-0 lead to start it off (the Pack's first set with the first lead). The Aggies then scored two straight to tie it up, but Nevada retook a 5-3 lead with kills from freshman Shayla Hoeft and Groenweghe. The Pack maintained its lead throughout the match, leading by as much as four come 13-9. The Aggies pulled to within two to make it a close one, cutting the Nevada lead to 15-13. A borderline touch call that went the Aggies' way along with two straight kills gave UC Davis a 16-15 lead, its first of the set. The Aggies maintained the lead with the Pack getting as close as one at 18-17, but when UC Davis grew the lead to 21-17, Nevada was forced to call a timeout to recollect. Nevada went on a run to cut the deficit to 23-21, but the Aggies held off the charge to claim set three 25-22.
Neither team could top the other well into set four, as tie after tie continued. Nevada decide enough was enough, and three straight points later, led the Aggies 10-7 forcing a timeout from the UC Davis bench. Morell tallied her 20th kill of the match (her third match with 20 plus this season) to give Nevada a 15-10 lead. Nevada grew their lead to 17-12 with Groenweghe'e 15th kill of the match, setting a third straight career best in single match kills to continue her hot tournament performance. Nevada chewed through the rest of the set in a dominant performance, taking the fourth 25-17 to force a fifth.
The fifth set started as tight as the rest, but the Aggies were forced to take a timeout when Nevada went up by two, 5-3. UC Davis came out of the timeout hot, scoring four to take a 7-5 lead. However, Nevada came right back and tied it up at seven off a Morell ace. Nevada led 8-7 before the set tied up at nine. Nevada then took an 11-9 lead off a Fresenius kill and an Aggie attack error, forcing a timeout from the opponent. Nevada scored two to take a 13-10 lead before clinching the set 15-11 to take the match 3-2.
Nevada will head off to their final nonconference tournament on Friday at Sacramento State.
