SEASIDE, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team split a pair of matches on opening day at the Otter Invitational on Friday, earning a three-set win over Menlo College. The Bobcats fell in straight sets to No. 9 Nebraska Kearney.
Match One: UNK 3, UC Merced 0 | (25-15, 25-21, 25-15)
Match Two: UC Merced 3, Menlo College 1 | (20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-15)
Match One: UNK 3, UC Merced 0
The Bobcats opened the season with arguably their toughest task of the regular season, facing a Top 10 NCAA Division II opponent in Nebraska Kearney who has also been to the NCAA Tournament 24 consecutive years.
Despite the loss, Alexa Ultreras and Sera Riley registered nine kills each and Semiramis Tanasescu finished with four blocks. One of the middle blocker's four blocks was solo.
Other notables include 15 assists and a service ace from Kyra Miller and seven digs from Haley Branley.
Peyton Neff led UNK with a near double-double of 36 assists and nine digs. Neff also had three blocks.
UNK controlled the first set, building a seven-point advantage as early as the 14-7 mark and never looked back. The Bobcats never got closer than six points the rest of the frame and fell behind by double figures at 22-12.
The second set proved to be better for UC Merced and the Bobcats grabbed their first lead at any point of the day with three straight points early on highlighted by a Miller service ace. Later on, UC Merced led 13-12 but UNK followed with a 6-1 spurt to take a four-point advantage. Ultreras helped bring the Bobcats within a pair at 21-19, but head coach Ai Prachumsri's team didn't close the gap any further and fell 25-21.
UNK jumped out to a 10-1 lead in the third set and led by at least nine points the rest of the way. The Bobcats managed to put together two different 3-0 spurts, but it wasn't enough to build any serious momentum and UC Merced would fall 25-15.
Match Two: UC Merced 3, Menlo College 1
Alexa Ultreras notched a double-double and Destiny Lei Ramilo finished with 22 digs and a career-high six service aces to lead the Bobcats to their first win over Menlo College since 2019.
Ultreras' double-double was the eleventh of her career and her first of the season saw her compile eleven kills and ten digs. The Merced, Calif., native also added two service aces.
Lei Ramilo's performance marked her third 20+ dig match her last four outings dating back to last season and her six aces were two more than her previous career-high. The fifth-year senior eclipsed 100 career services aces with her stellar match and she is now within ten aces of becoming UC Merced's all-time leader.
Miller tied her career-high with 26 assists and added eight digs, six kills, three service aces, and a solo block.
Riley and Kennedi Baker pitched in eight kills each. Morgan Wilson added five kills.
Other notables include two service aces from Jazmine Banks and six digs from Jaide Davis.
As a team, the Bobcats combined for 14 service aces which is their most since October 28, 2021.
The Bobcats notched two of their 14 aces within the first six points of the match and it gave them a 4-2 lead in the opening frame. Later on, Prachumsri's squad held a 12-11 lead before a 4-0 Menlo run marked a lead change. The Bobcats pulled even at 16-16 but were unable to jump back in front in the set, ultimately falling 25-20.
In the second set, UC Merced trailed 14-8 before a Miller kill put her behind the service line and a 6-0 surge overall tied the game 14-14. Shorty after, back-to-back Baker kills put the Bobcats in front. Baker continued to roll and put her team up 20-16. However, Menlo managed to pull even 21-21 and was within a point at 24-23. Then, Menlo committed a service error and the Bobcats earned their first set win of 2024.
The Bobcats had to play from behind for the majority of third set, trailing 7-1 early on in addition to trailing 17-12 at the midway point of the frame. With the help of Baker, the Bobcats worked their way back to pull even at 19-19 and eventually grabbed the lead at 22-21. Lei Ramilo followed with a service ace, and then Riley pounded back-to-back kills to give the Bobcats a 25-22 set three win.
UC Merced opened up the fourth set with kills from Miller and Tanasescu and an ace from Lei Ramilo. A pair of lead changes followed in the ensuing rallies, but the Bobcats took the lead for good at 10-9 and it sparked a 5-0 run with Ultreras serving. Then up 14-11, the Bobcats took it a step further and scored eight points in a row to extend their advantage to 22-11 with Lei Ramilo behind the service line. She had three aces in the surge, while Miller had two kills. Miller added another kill to put her team up 23-12 and then it was Kylah Guzman and Ultreras to reel off the final two kills to win the match.
With the win, UC Merced has now won a match on opening day in two of the last three years. The Bobcats win over Menlo was their first in the last five meetings against the opponent.
Looking ahead, UC Merced will continue the Otter Invitational on Saturday, September 7 with matches against Westmont College (12:00pm) and Cal State Monterey Bay (6:00pm).
