UC Merced rides Wheeler, Johnson career nights to five-set volleyball win
With eight women’s volleyball programs participating in the California Pacific Conference this year, the competition for qualifying for the conference tournament has never been so fierce.
The conference has never had more than six programs eligible for the tournament since UC Merced began competing in 2011. Only the top four teams qualify for the tournament, from which the champion earns a berth to the NAIA Tournament. It makes victories over the bottom half of the standings all the more crucial.
Should UC Merced make the Cal Pac Tournament, it may look back on this past weekend as the reason why. Simpson showed it has plenty of fight, battling back from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set Saturday night. The Bobcats recovered, and Genesis Hester closed the 25-20, 25-15, 20-25, 22-25, 15-11 victory with a kill.
UC Merced (4-10, 2-2 Cal Pac) received two career performances in the victory. Senior setter Brooke Wheeler set the tone with a career-high 51 assists to go with 20 digs, four block assists, three kills and an ace. Freshman middle blocker Jaysonna Johnson was Wheeler’s favorite target. Johnson recorded a career-high 15 kills with six block assists and three solo blocks.
Four Bobcats turned in double-digit kills, including Dominique Andrews (14), Rachael Schaefer (10) and Jade Fachin (10).
Women’s soccer
UC Merced 4, Providence Christian 0 in Merced – Ashley Bennett scored her first career hat trick as the Bobcats (6-1-3, 3-0 Cal Pac) remained undefeated in conference play. Elizabeth Cruz remained red hot for Merced, scoring her team-high fifth goal in six games and adding an assist.
The Bobcats’ defense didn’t allow a shot on goal, recording its eighth shutout of the season and fifth in a row.
Men’s soccer
UC Merced 5, Providence Christian 0 in Merced – The Bobcats’ tough nonconference schedule has paid dividends at the start of Cal Pac play, as they have now outscored opponents 16-0 in four league contests.
Five different players found the back of the net against Providence Christian, led by a goal and an assist from Xavier Juarez.
UC Merced improved to 5-4 overall.
Cross country
On the heels of its sweep at the PUC Pioneer Invitational, the UC Merced cross country teams competed in the prestigious Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto.
Senior Christopher Jones paced the men’s team with a time of 26 minutes, 11 seconds, good for 119th. Junior Erika Ochoa paced the women’s squad with a 95th-place finish in 23:51.
This story was originally published October 2, 2016 at 4:11 PM with the headline "UC Merced rides Wheeler, Johnson career nights to five-set volleyball win."