LANCASTER, Calif. - The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team swept University of Antelope Valley on Friday night to win for the fourth time in the last five matches, 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-23) inside the Pioneer Event Center.

The Bobcats (9-9, 6-5) win also got them back to .500 overall and a game over .500 in Cal Pac play.

Serena Choi led the Bobcats with 15 assists, 14 digs, seven kills and a solo block. Choi's double-double was her second in a sweep this season. Choi has seven double-double's overall. Her 14 digs marked a three-set career-high, while her solo block extended her streak to three straight matches with at least one solo block.

Hannah Dillingham held team-high with ten kills and now has double figure kills in three straight matches for the first time in her career. Teola Nowak added seven kills and had a season-high two solo blocks while attacking at a .429 success rate.

Olanasaze Ojo pitched in six kills, while Valentina Evans had five kills on nine attempts and two more solo blocks. Evans' strong defensive work moved her ahead of Jericka Jones and McKenzie Willett for fourth on the program's all-time list with 31 career solo blocks.

Bianca Malaluan highlighted the back row and shared match-high with 16 assists. Destiny Lei Ramilo finished with a three-set career-high 13 digs. Tea Bishop and Jalen Carey added eight and seven digs, respectively.

Other individual notables include four kills from Semiramis Tanasecu and four digs from Annamarie Caldero.

Overall, the Bobcats combined for a three-set season-high 64 digs and tied their three-set season-high with 43 total kills.

The Bobcats hardly trailed throughout and took the lead for good no later than the eleventh point in each of the first two sets. 

In the first set, Nowak broke a 10-10 tie with a solo block and the Bobcats would go on to take a 14-10 lead with Bishop behind the service line. The Bobcats extended their lead to five points at 20-15 and a Choi kill upped the advantage to six a rally later. Up 23-17, Nowak smacked a kill and the Bobcats captured set point immediately after due to a UAV setting error.

Head coach Ai Prachumsri's team scored three straight to begin the second frame and led for all but two rallies the rest of the set. A pair of UAV errors gave the Bobcats the lead for good and then back-to-back kills later on from Ojo and Choi helped create separation, 19-14. The Bobcats also led by five points at 22-17 after a Dillingham kill. Nowak captured set point with a kill and the Bobcats took a 2-0 lead into intermission.

The third set was the tightest and the Bobcats overcame an early 5-1 deficit with a 6-0 run highlighted by strong back row play from Malaluan and Lei Ramilo. Although smaller, the Bobcats had to erase a trio of one point deficits in crunch time, trailing 21-20, 22-21 and 23-22. The Bobcats responded to each deficit, including via an Alyssa Dudley kill to even the score at 23. Dudley's kill was the start of a 3-0 match-ending run to secure the Bobcats season sweep against UAV. The Bobcats scored the final two points off UAV errors.

Overall, the Bobcats have earned four sweeps on the year. 

UC Merced has now won nine straight matches vs. UAV dating back to the 2017 season.