Riverside— UC Riverside freshman Mickayla Sherman had a career-high 26 kills in leading the Highlanders past UC Santa Barbara, 3-1, for their first Big West conference victory of the season.
The last conference win for UCR came in the 2015 season at the SRC Arena on November 14, also against UC Santa Barbara.
In a tightly played first set that was tied at 23, the Highlanders edged the Gauchos thanks to kills from Brooke Callahan and Meg Graham for the final two points to close out the frame, 25-23.
Sherman erupted for eight kills on 11 swings and no errors to lead the home side in the opening set—Callahan and Graham posted four kills apiece.
UCR went led 18-11 midway through the second, when they ran-off five straight points to take command of the set en route to a 25-14 victory and go up two sets to none.
Through two sets played the Highlanders were hitting an efficient .359 as team, better than twice the rate of the Gauchos at .155.
The third set saw the clubs played point-for-point until the UCSB established a four point lead at 15-11. UCR would respond with scores off forcing four straight attack errors by the Gauchos to tie the set at 15 all.
The visitors would stave off match point at 24-23 and 25-24 before getting three straight to take the third 27-25 and force a fourth set.
The Highlanders opened the fourth with five points in a row to control early in the set. The next 16 points were split to advance the score to 13-8 in favor of UC Riverside.
They would maintain their advantage throughout the set and eventually claim the fourth set, 25-21 and the match, 3-1, for their first Big West conference victory of the 2016 season.
Sherman's 26 kills topped both teams, and she finished the match with a blistering .400 hitting percentage. Her 26 kills also matched the team-high set by Fabiana Rosas in the second match of the season against Southern Utah, also a 3-1 victory.
Maddie Hubbell's 18 digs helped anchor a defense that had four or more players tally double-digit digs for the second time this season. The first time was in a five-set victory over San Francisco, the team's last win before Friday night's triumph.
Cristina Maietta and Chelsea Doyle had 15 digs apiece, while Sherman chipped in 11 to round out the four Highlanders with double-digit digs. Maietta added nine kills, and Doyle logged 43 assists in the win. Graham controlled the middle of the net, amassing 10 kills and getting up for six blocks—three of them of the solo variety.
UC Riverside concludes it's four-match home stand Saturday, when they host Cal Poly at 7 PM on ESPN3.
