Atherton, CA:

The Lady Oaks took care of business tonight against UC Merced in front of a packed house inside Haynes-Prim.  Menlo wrapped up the match in straight sets winning by scores of 25-18, 25-14, and 25-21. 

"Tonight was awesome, we all come together and played strong and aggressive," claimed senior leader Briana Moreno on the team's performance.  "We were scrappy and consistent all around."  Moreno finished with a match high five serving aces which helped set the tone tonight. 

After a back and forth beginning to the first set, the Lady Oaks pulled away for the convincing 25-18 victory.  Paving the way for Menlo was junior Stephenie Monderine who led all players with nine kills, while senior Jessica Atthowe earned nine assists and was tied for a match high 10 digs with teammate Mika Mendoza.

The Lady Oaks took control and never looked back in the second set, taking it home by a final of 25-14, and fought hard to win a tight 25-21 third set. 

"We didn't have too big of a dip tonight and cut Merced's runs off early which was good," remarked second year Head Coach Daniel Rasay.  "We didn't overlook them but we still need to learn how to key on other opponent's great players."

The Lady Oaks now will set their sights for a big week of Cal Pac action with road matchups against Holy Names this Friday October 14^th and Simpson University on Saturday October 15^th.  As far as Rasay is concerned, he feels that his team should be well prepared.  "We have had a few weeks of really good practice but we have to be in the right mind frame and turn the intensity up in our practices to mirror our matches," claimed Rasay.

The Holy Names contest will begin at 7:00pm.