MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced women's volleyball team fell 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-20) to No. 5 Fresno Pacific in the CCAA opener on Saturday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
Natalie Riley led the Bobcats with a career-high 18 kills and started the night hot with six kills in the opening set to help the Bobcats take a 1-0 match lead. She also delivered a service ace in the match.
Callie Neufeld recorded her second straight double-double with 12 kills and 15 digs. The freshman finished with a .370 hitting percentage to go along with an ace and her first career solo block.
Yahaira Vazquez added nine kills and seven digs, while Morgan Wilson was good for six kills and two blocks.
Kyra Miller filled the stat sheet with 43 assists, six digs, a season-high four blocks, and three kills. Miller quarterbacked the Bobcats offense to a season-best .224 hitting percentage.
Jazmine Banks notched 16 digs to extend her season-opening streak to eight straight matches with double figure digs.
Although the Bobcats scored the first point of the night, they found themselves trailing 13-6 later on and didn't lead again until the 21-20 mark. Miller was huge in the comeback as she put up seven assists, three blocks, and a kill in the Bobcats 15-7 run to turn the seven-point deficit into a lead. Vazquez delivered a kill to score the Bobcats 24th point and then Dr. Anitra Brockman's squad recorded set point off a FPU attack error. UC Merced was stellar offensively in the opening frame with 15 kills and just one error on 38 attempts.
UC Merced and FPU traded sideouts to start the second set, but a 7-1 FPU run gave the Sunbirds a little separation at 11-7. The Bobcats pulled even at 14-14 but could never jump back in front. Tied 15-15, FPU used a 10-5 set-ending run to tie the match at one set a piece. Riley led the Bobcats efforts with six more kills in the second set.
FPU slowly built a four-point lead in the third set before exploding on an 8-0 run behind four service aces from Mikayla Weiss to go up 20-9. Weiss had three consecutive aces and had four aces in a five-point span to help the Sunbirds take full control of the set and win it 25-13.
The nationally-ranked Sunbirds continued to control the match as it got later and never let the Bobcats lead in the fourth set. After three early ties, FPU led by at least three points for every rally from the 10-7 mark and on. The FPU lead hit five points at 16-11 and got up to as many as six at 23-17 on the way to victory.
Saturday marked the Bobcats first ever match against a NCAA Division II Top 10 opponent.
FPU extended its winning streak to nine with the win and the Sunbirds earned their first ever CCAA win. FPU, who joined the CCAA from the PacWest, won its first 23 games last season and would go on to win PacWest Regular Season and Tournament Championship.
Up next, UC Merced will host Cal State San Marcos on Friday, September 18 at 2:00pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.
