COSTA MESA, Calif. – Authoring one of the Oaks' most efficient performances to date, Menlo Women's Volleyball began the Orange County Classic by topping Vanguard 3-1 (17-25, 25-11, 25-20, 25-11) on Friday. The Oaks bounced back from the opening set in a big way, hitting .282 with multiple hitters logging kills for half of their attempts when the final point was scored.
Oaks Highlights
-Finishing one off her career high with Menlo,
Fuka Kikuchi sent down 23 kills to lead all competitors
-With her 14 kills,
Dayjah McFadden delivered a .429 hitting percentage for the highest mark of her collegiate career
-A total of 35 assists came off the hands of
Ruby Santos &
Makenna Mello
-
Evan Leclair &
Michelle Mlikan matched one another for 22 digs in total
Second Set Surge Sends Menlo To Victory
Though the Oaks began the match up 6-3 after both senior setter
Shaylee Ungos and senior outside hitter
Fuka Kikuchi posting kills, runs by the Lions helped the home team claim the opening set 25-17. Menlo then countered with an 11-2 surge midway through the second frame as sophomore outside hitter
Dayjah McFadden and Ungos both registered multiple kills to push a dominant 25-11 final (one that saw 13 kills to one error for a .480 hitting percentage), evening the match at one set apiece.
The third frame ended up the closest of the afternoon with a 15-13 VU advantage quickly evaporating after McFadden caught fire for four kills out of the next five points before Kikuchi connected on the last four kills of the Oaks' 25-20 victory.
From a 9-4 lead that came on kills by sophomore middle blocker
Saarika Gunapu, junior middle blocker
Avery Krebill, and McFadden plus a service ace from freshman libero
Evan Leclair, Menlo opened things up with six straight points for the 16-6 difference. Nine of the match's final 11 points belonged to the Oaks with Ungos collecting her career-high eighth kill down the stretch and junior outside hitter
Michelle Mlikan ultimately putting away the final score for the 25-11 triumph.
Up Next
Menlo will close out the Orange County Classic with two more matches tomorrow against Biola (noon) and Concordia (5 p.m.) in Irvine as the Oaks finish up a stretch of four straight non-conference matches against their former PacWest opponents.
