MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team tallied 73 kills but fell to Chico State in five sets (26-24, 19-25, 19-25, 25-16, 16-14) on Friday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
The Bobcats (5-14) 73 kills marked their most in match since November 11, 2017. The kills output is also tied for the second-highest in program history.
Callie Neufeld led the Bobcats with 21 kills, her second 20+ kill outing of the season.
Morgan Wilson recorded a career-high 15 kills to go along with six digs and three blocks. With her efforts, she passed Jade Fachin for seventh in program history with 612 career kills.
Yahaira Vazquez tied her career-high with 13 kills and added a season-high three blocks, one solo. The junior also had four digs and three assists.
Natalie Riley returned to action to contribute 12 kills and a career-high 18 digs. Riley also pitched in a block and a service ace.
Kyra Miller finished with a career-high 56 assists, the second highest assists output in program history and the most assists since Brooke Wheeler on November 10, 2016. Miller added 15 digs for her tenth double-double of the season. The senior notched three blocks, three kills, and a service ace as well. With her ace, Miller tied Valeria Martinez for second in program history with 113 career service aces.
Jazmine Banks recorded 21 digs and a service ace, her seventh 20+ dig outing of the year and her eighth straight match with an ace. Banks has double-figure digs in all 19 matches this year.
Ayana Ruffin had six kills and four blocks, one solo. She was a key part of the Bobcats finishing with nine blocks as a team, the second highest blocks output of the year.
Gianella "GiGi" Tijamo was good for nine digs and three service aces.
Other notables include a service ace from Eve Dixon and a block from Claudia Aber in her Bobcats debut.
Set one was back and forth and both offenses were rolling, operating at a .400 success rate or better throughout the frame. After the teams traded two-point leads, the Bobcats took the first three-point lead of the night at 11-8 following back-to-back kills from Ruffin and Neufeld. UC Merced also led by three points later on at 18-15 before a 4-1 Chico State run tied the game 19-19. The teams then alternated trading back-to-back points, however Chico State had the first opportunity at set point leading 24-23. Neufeld responded with a kill to force extra points, but Chico State scored the next two points to win the set 26-24.
After five ties early in the second set, the Bobcats scored three straight points capped by a Banks ace to take a 10-7 lead. The Bobcats led by four points at 12-8 and 14-10 before Chico State used a 7-2 spurt to jump in front 17-16. Tied 18-18 shortly after, Neufeld put down a kill and Wilson and Miller combined for a block that started a set-ending 7-1 run to even the match. Riley scored set point with a kill.
UC Merced fell behind 7-2 in the third set but erased the deficit in a hurry with five straight points, including two Neufeld kills. Three rallies later, the Bobcats exploded on an 8-0 run with Tijamo behind the service line. Tijamo had two aces in the run, while Neufeld had three kills to put the Bobcats up 15-9. UC Merced led by at least three points the rest of the way and by at least five points from the 20-15 mark and on. Neufeld finished with six kills in the frame.
Chico State scored the first five points of the fourth set and never looked back. The Wildcats led by nine points as early as 12-3 and maintained a lead between 7-9 points the rest of the way. Chico State only had nine kills in the set, but forced eleven Bobcat attack errors.
The fifth set had six ties, but the Bobcats only leads were 2-1 and 5-4. Chico State answered the latter deficit with a 6-1 burst to reach double figures first leading 10-6. The Wildcats scored five of their six points in the run with a kill. Chico State was then serving for match point up 14-11 before back-to-back-to-back Neufeld kills forced extra points. Though, a UC Merced attack error immediately gave the Wildcats their next match point opportunity and Chico State secured the win on the second try with a kill from the middle.
UC Merced fell to 1-3 in five-set matches this year.
