TURLOCK, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team knocked off Dominican in four sets and fell to Menlo College in five on the final day of the Stan State Tournament on Saturday.
The Bobcats (3-6), who swept Dominican in an exhibition earlier this year, beat the Penguins in the first ever regular season matchup behind a season-high 53 kills.
Despite the loss to Menlo, the Bobcats recorded a weekend-high eleven service aces.
Destiny Lei Ramilo became the program's all-time service aces on Saturday. She totaled three aces, including two against Dominican to tie and then break the longest standing record in program history previously held by Valeria Martinez (2011-14). Lei Ramilo now holds the record with 115 career service aces.
Alexa Ultreras and Semiramis Tanasescu both made marks on their climbs up the record books. Ultreras moved ahead of Emily Romo and Olanasaze Ojo for seventh on the programs' all-time kills list with 483 career kills. Tanasescu jumped Jericka Jones and Valentina Evans for seventh on the program's all-time blocks list with 141 career blocks.
Match One UC Merced 3, Dominican 1 (25-19, 25-19, 18-25, 25-12)
Kyra Miller tallied a career-high 40 assists and added eight digs, three kills, three blocks, and two service aces in the Bobcats third win against a NCAA Division II opponent this season. She set up three different Bobcats for 10+ kills, including Sera Riley.
Riley was the top target and answered the call with 16 kills to go along with nine digs and four service aces. Her 16 kills shared match-high, while her four aces led all players.
Ultreras recorded a season-high 21 digs to support her ten-kill performance. Her efforts marked her third career double-double with 20 digs or more.
Kennedi Baker was the third Bobcat in double figures and she tied her career-high with ten kills while operating at a .412 success rate.
Lei Ramilo totaled 16 digs.
Other notables include six kills and four blocks from Morgan Wilson, four blocks from Tanasescu, and eight digs from Serena Choi.
UC Merced recorded a .382 hitting percentage in the opening frame on their way to the 25-19 win. There were three early lead changes but the Bobcats led for good at 9-8 and created further separation going up by six points as early as the 17-11 mark.
Set two was tightly contested through the halfway point before UC Merced took over with a 7-0 run to go up 22-12. Riley was behind the service line in the run and had both a kill and an ace.
In the third set, UC Merced erased a few deficits to ultimately pull even at 18-18. However, Dominican didn't break and followed with a set-ending 7-0 run to push the match to a fourth set.
The Bobcats scored the first three points of the fourth set and that was enough to lead the rest of the way. Overall, the Bobcats put together a 12-3 run to start the set highlighted by a couple Riley kills. A little later, the Bobcats used a 6-0 run to get closer to match point that was ultimately scored at 25-12 by Baker.
Match Two | Menlo 3, UC Merced 2 (25-17, 25-19, 28-26, 23-25, 10-15)
Three Bobcats recorded double-double's but it wasn't enough to sweep the season series with the Oaks.
Miller reached a double-double with 39 assists and 12 digs. She also had a season-high tying six kills, three service aces, and a pair of blocks.
Ultreras' double-double consisted of 13 kills and 15 digs, while Riley got another double-double with eleven kills and 13 digs. Ultreras added three aces.
Baker was good for nine kills and a career-high tying five digs.
Jazmine Banks recorded a career-high three service aces. Tanasescu turned in six kills and four blocks, while Wilson added four blocks and three kills. Lei Ramilo had seven digs.
Menlo was led by setter Paige Harmann's 40 assists, 20 digs, and six service aces. The Oaks controlled the first set taking a lead on the third rally of the match and never letting go of it. Menlo led by eight points as early as the 18-10 mark.
Ultreras opened up set two with a service ace and then after falling behind by three points shortly after, the Bobcats followed with an 8-1 run to jump in front. The Bobcats led by six points at 16-10 and extended the lead to seven at 20-13 en route to the victory.
There were four early lead changes in the third set and then the Bobcats doubled up Menlo 10-5 following an Ultreras kill. However, UC Merced fell back behind and the two teams continuously traded sideouts that ended up resulting in a 24-24 tie. Both teams had a chance at set point, that was ultimately captured by the Bobcats followed by back-to-back Menlo attack errors.
UC Merced trailed 12-4 in the fourth set before garnering some momentum behind back-to-back kills from Tanasescu and Baker. Banks then added an ace to bring the Bobcats within two points at 12-10. Head coach Ai Prachumsri's team kept fighting and grabbed the lead at 16-15 with a Tanasescu and Ultreras block. A lead change occurred at 21-20, and then the Bobcats led 23-22 after a Riley kill. Though, the Bobcats couldn't close out the Oaks and three straight Menlo points sent the match to a fifth set.
UC Merced didn't get rolling in the fifth set until the teams changed sides. The Bobcats trailed 8-3 at the time, but then used a 6-0 run to take a lead with Banks behind the service line. Baker scored the Bobcats tenth point with a kill to put her team up 10-9, but that was the final point the Bobcats scored in the match. Menlo put together their 6-0 match-ending run with Katherine Mumm behind the service line. She had one ace in the final stretch.
Looking ahead, UC Merced will play Caltech for the first time in program history on Saturday, September 21. The match is scheduled to begin at 1:00pm inside Braun Gymnasium in Pasadena, Calif.
