ANGWIN, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team earned a five-set (27-29, 25-18, 19-25, 27-25, 15-12) comeback win over Pacific Union College on Thursday afternoon inside Pacific Auditorium.
The Bobcats (6-11, 5-1) 5-1 start through six Cal Pac games is their best start in program history.
UC Merced trailed 1-0 and 2-1 in the match and overcame a 24-21 deficit in the fourth set to go the distance, ultimately winning in five.
Sera Riley led the way with a career-high 19 kills on a .326 hitting percentage. She also tallied eleven digs for her second career double-double. The sophomore added two service aces.
Bianca Malaluan registered a career-high 32 assists to go along with five digs.
Serena Choi stuffed the stat sheet with a season-high 26 assists, 17 digs, and nine kills. Her 17 digs tied her career-high. The Irvine, Calif., natives strong efforts gives her three double-double's this year. She also had an ace to move past Hannah Castillo for seventh in program history with 73 career service aces.
Alexa Ultreras had her second straight double-double with eleven kills and 14 digs. She also had a career-high four service aces.
Semiramis Tanasescu became the third player in program history with six solo blocks in a single-match, joining Olanasaze Ojo and Jaysonna Johnson. Her career-outing moved her into seventh on the all-time solo blocks chart with 28 career solo blocks. She jumped four Bobcats in doing so. Offensively, Tanasescu killed a season-high nine balls on a .467 hitting percentage.
Morgan Wilson finished with a career-high ten kills and tied her career-high with two solo blocks, while Destiny Lei Ramilo was good for 17 digs and tied her season-high with three service aces.
Other individual notables include nine digs from Jazmine Banks, seven digs and four kills from Kylah Guzman, and four kills and a solo block from Kennedi Baker.
As a team, the Bobcats recorded season-high's of 67 kills, 62 assists, and nine blocks. The Bobcats also tied their season-high with 12 service aces.
Despite dropping the first set, the Bobcats started strong and scored eleven of the first 15 points and led 17-9 later on. However, PUC followed with a 12-4 run to pull even at 21-21. The Pioneers scored six points in a row two different times in the surge. Shortly after, a kill from Choi gave the Bobcats the first opportunity to score set point but PUC answered with a kill of their own. The two teams took turns staving off set points and it was PUC to make the last push, holding off the Bobcats and scoring three points in a row to win the frame 29-27. The set was tied for the longest of the Bobcats campaign.
UC Merced scored the first five points of the second set and this time around never surrendered the advantage. Head coach Ai Prachumsri's team extended the lead to seven points at the 10-3 mark following back-to-back kills from Baker and Wilson. PUC continued to battle and came within two points at 19-17, but the Bobcats dominated from that point on and finished the set on a 6-1 run to pull even in the match. Lei Ramilo had two aces in the final push.
The third set was close early on with no team leading by two points until a Riley kill put the Bobcats up 10-8. PUC followed with a 5-2 run to grab the lead back, but the Bobcats countered with three straight points to go up 16-15. The Bobcats last lead in the frame would end up being 17-16. The home team broke an 18-18 tie with a kill and used that momentum to finish the period on a 7-1 run.
In the fourth set, Riley got it going with back-to-back kills and then a couple Choi kills and a Tanasescu solo block soon had the Bobcats up 7-2. UC Merced led by eight points at 14-6 and seven points at 18-11. The scoring margin started to shrink and the Bobcats lead was down to three points at 20-17. Baker scored the Bobcats 21st point with a kill, but PUC followed with six straight points and have an opportunity for match point up 24-21. With the pressure on the Bobcats, PUC recorded back-to-back attack errors. Wilson tied the score with a kill, while Choi then gave the Bobcats a 25-24 lead with another kill. The Bobcats had staved off three straight match points and now were in a spot to send the match to a fifth set. Tied 25-25, Wilson smacked a kill and then an Ultreras ace gave the Bobcats the 27-25 win.
The Bobcats entered the fifth set looking to extend their winning streak against the Pioneers to 14 consecutive matches. Five kills, including three from Tanasescu, and a service ace put the Bobcats up 6-3 early on. The lead held the rest of the way, growing to seven points following a 4-0 run with the help of a kill and a block from Wilson. The Bobcats led by eight points at 14-6 and after a 6-0 PUC run to try to get back in the set, PUC recorded a match-ending service error to put an end to the day.
The five-set win was the Bobcats second of the year. With the victory, the Bobcats improved to 23-4 all-time against the Pioneers.
Up next, UC Merced hosts Simpson University on Friday, September 22 at 6:00pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
