LA JOLLA, Calif. -The 17th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team defeated Chico State 25-30, 33-31, 30-22, 30-22 on Saturday afternoon behind a strong performance from Nicole Courtney with 27 kills, 15 digs and a .364 hitting percentage.  The win improves the Tritons to 18-5, 10-4 CCAA while the Wildcats drop to 11-11, 6-8 CCAA.  After a thrilling game two victory, UCSD took that momentum and outhit the Wildcats .286-.050 in game three and .462-.220 in game four.  The Tritons sent down 20 kills against two errors in the fourth game. 

In game one with the score knotted at 5-5, Chico State went on a 13-5 run to build an 18-10 lead.  The Tritons would cut the deficit to 20-15, but could get no closer until Courtney put down a kill to bring the Tritons within 29-25.  CSUC put game one away on a kill by Jamie Houle, 30-25.  While the Tritons lost game one, they did manage to score seven of the last 10 points to gain some momentum heading to game two.

Game two was the closest of the afternoon as CSUC and UCSD both led by three points, with the Tritons getting the lead later in the match at 25-21 on a Rebecca Bailey kill.  The Wildcats battled back and tied it several times, the last at 31-31.  CSUC had an attack error and Laura Watkins placed the following serve perfectly for the ace and game two win at 33-31.

Game three consisted of several runs as neither team could pull away from each other.  Tied at 13-13, UCSD scored three straight points on consecutive Wildcat errors.  CSUC would storm back with a run of its own to take an 18-17 lead before an attack error would even the score at 18-18.  The Tritons then scored six of the next nine points as Courtney and Brianna Koche sent down kills combined with Wildcat errors for the 24-19 lead.  UCSD would extend the lead and put game three away on a Bailey kill, 30-22.

Game four saw the Tritons hit (20-2-39) .462 as they jumped out to an 8-3 lead.  The Wildcats cut the lead down to 11-9 before the Tritons went on a 6-1 run to lead 17-10.  At 21-14, the Tritons continued to call on Courtney's number as she scored the next four UCSD points on kills to put the Tritons ahead 24-16.  Bailey had the final kill of the match as UCSD won game four 30-22.

UCSD has a short week as its back in action on Wednesday, November 2 against 22nd-ranked Cal State Bakersfield.  First serve is set for 7:00 pm in RIMAC Arena.