ATHERTON, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team fell twice on opening day, dropping both matches in four sets to Menlo College and 20th-ranked Southern Oregon University at the Oak Invitational on Wednesday afternoon.
vs. Menlo College (15-25, 25-21, 25-18, 29-27)
vs. Southern Oregon (14-25, 25-13, 27-25, 25-12)
Alexa Ultreras led the Bobcats efforts combining for 24 kills and 22 digs on the day, while Bianca Malaluan also was strong contributing 43 assists, 15 digs, and 12 service aces.
Destiny Lei Ramilo racked up a career-high 25 digs in the season opener before collecting 16 in game two. With her efforts, Lei Ramilo moved ahead of Edwena Wong and Caroline Mack for seventh in program history with 531 career digs.
Choi combined for 31 assists, 15 kills, and ten digs and passed Brooke Wheeler for third in program history with 1100 career assists.
Match One
The Bobcats shined defensively with 78 digs and eleven service aces, but it wasn't enough finish off Menlo in a tightly contested battle.
Aside from Lei Ramilo, Ultreras recorded a career-high 17 digs and Sera Riley pitched in a career-high 14 digs. Riley also had a career-high 12 kills for her first ever double-double. Ultreras finished with nine kills.
Riley is the first Bobcat with a kill/dig double-double in a season opener since Emily Romo in 2019.
Malaluan ripped across a career-high five service aces and she would go on to break her mark in the later game The Hercules, Calif., native also had 23 assists, seven digs, and a kill against Menlo.
Serena Choi flirted with a triple-double as she contributed 18 assists, nine kills, and eight digs.
Freshmen middle blockers Morgan Wilson and Kylah Guzman were good for six and five kills, respectively.
Other individual notables include four kills from Kennedi Baker, three aces from Ultreras, and two aces from Lei Ramilo.
The Bobcats won the opening set behind a .256 hitting percentage while holding Menlo to a .184 mark. Head coach Ai Prachumsri's team led 9-4 early on and then after Menlo pulled even at 10-10, Guzman smacked a kill followed by back-to-back Ultreras kills. A strong service run from Malaluan soon put the Bobcats up 20-12 and they were able to cruise to a 25-15 victory.
UC Merced scored four straight points to start the second set and maintained its lead until the 8-8 mark. After a few lead changes, the Bobcats were up 19-17 but a 5-0 Menlo run changed the dynamic of the frame. Menlo led 22-19 after the surge and tied up the match with a 25-21 win in the second set.
Menlo led the entire third frame with the help of a match-high .296 success rate on the offensive end. Menlo led by five points at 14-9 and extended the lead to as many as nine points on three different occasions. The Bobcats were able to string together three consecutive points in a row while staving off set point, but Menlo ultimately scored it with a kill from Giulia Marinelli to win 25-18.
UC Merced started the fourth set on an 8-3 run. The Bobcats also had a five-point advantage at 11-6 and 15-10 before managing to extend the lead even further to 17-10 after an Ultreras ace and a Wilson kill. The Bobcats were the first to 20 points at 20-15 and had set point opportunity at 24-21 but were unable to capture it and force a fifth set. With the Bobcats up 24-21, Menlo stormed back to score four in a row to then put themselves in a position to win the match. Riley delivered a kill to keep the Bobcats alive. Soon after, the Bobcats led 27-26 but a pair of Menlo kills and a service ace completed the Oaks comeback, 29-27.
Menlo was coming off an upset win over second-ranked Corban University prior to completing the comeback against the Bobcats.
Along with Guzman and Wilson, Kyra Miller and Jazmine Banks made their collegiate debut's.
Match Two
Malaluan tallied a career-high seven service aces and the Bobcats dominated 20th-ranked Southern Oregon University in the first set, but dropped the next three sets in their quest for the second Top 25 win in program history.
Malaluan added 20 assists and eight digs to one of the best serving performances all-time by a Bobcat. Her seven aces are tied for the third most ever by a Bobcat in a single-match.
Just a few hours after recording a career-high in digs, Ultreras smacked a career-high 15 kills. The Merced, Calif., native also had five digs.
Lei Ramilo pitched in 16 digs, while Banks was good for eleven digs.
Choi had 13 assists, six kills, and a block.
Other individual notables include five kills each from Riley and Baker, and three kills and three blocks, one solo, for Wilson.
The Bobcats first set was dominant, scoring the first 13 points and 20 of the first 25. Six of Malaluan's seven aces came in the 13-0 run to start the match.
Looking to avenge the Menlo loss, the Bobcats got off to as good as a start as you can ask for against a nationally-ranked opponent and opened the match against Southern Oregon University with 13 straight points and a 20-5 run overall.
Malaluan was behind the service line for the 13-0 run and delivered six of her career-high seven aces in the match during that stretch. Ultreras provided fireworks with eight kills in the set that the Bobcats would go on to win 25-14. Prachumsri's squad limited SOU to just a .077 hitting percentage in the frame.
The roles reversed in the second set and this time it was SOU to grab a double figure lead. SOU doubled up the Bobcats at 20-10, led by 12 points at the 24-12 mark and then won the set 25-13. The Raiders operated at a .286 success rate in their set two win.
Set three was close throughout with the scoring margin within four points for the entirety. The Bobcats trailed 15-11 but worked their way back in front with the help of Wilson, who recorded her first career solo block to pull the Bobcats even at 17-17. One play later, SOU committed an attack error and it marked the Bobcats first lead in the set since 1-0. Fast forward, the Bobcats led 21-20 and 22-21, but never led after. The two teams were tied at 25 before back-to-back SOU kills put the Raiders up 2-1 in the match.
UC Merced won six of the first nine rallies in the fourth set, but Southern Oregon responded with a 13-2 run to jump ahead 16-8. Shortly after with SOU up 18-11, the nationally-ranked Raiders scored six points in a row to set up match point. A Riley kill extended the match one more rally, but the Raiders got a kill on the next play from Marin Mackey to finalize the contest.
Each team had 41 kills in the match, however SOU won the blocking battle 15-4.
The Bobcats finished with more digs than the Raiders, winning that statistical category 57-50.
Looking ahead, the Bobcats will compete in the HIU Summer Slam August 25-26 in Fullerton, Calif. UC Merced will start with College of Idaho on Friday at 10:00am.
