CARSON, Calif. - The UC San Diego women's volleyball team opened the 2005 season with a 25-30, 27-30, 30-25, 30-22, 15-13 victory over Point Loma Nazarene on Thursday morning at the Cal State Dominguez Hills Tournament. The Tritons used a balanced attack led by
Nicole Courtney with 19 kills and 21 digs.
Brianna Koche tallied 17 kills and a .405 attack percentage while
Laura Watkins anchored the back row with 18 digs. The Tritons will face Bridgeport in their second match of the day.
In game one, UCSD fell behind early by dropping six of the first eight points of the game. The trend would continue as UCSD trailied 18-12 on a PLNU kill by Melissa Boer. UCSD would get no closer than four points as Boer put game one away for Point Loma 30-25.
Game two started off much like game one as the Sea Lions opened up a 10-4 advantage. After a UCSD rotation error, PLNU would take a commanding 19-10 lead. Trailing 28-22, UCSD put a mini run together to come within 29-27, but PLNU's Natalie Acklin put the game away 30-27.
Game three was another slow start be the Tritons, falling behind 5-1 and later 12-7. This time however, the Tritons battled back to tie the game at 21-21 on a Rebecca Bailey kill. The kill was in the middle of a run of five consecutive points for UCSD with freshman Kimberly Carpenter serving. Leading 25-24, UCSD scored five on the next six points to win the game 30-25.
The Tritons opened game four playing with renewed confidence, even though falling behind 10-7. The teams would tie at 10 after a PLNU attack error and two Koche kills. Leading 22-20, UCSD scored six straight points and would force a game five after a PLNU ball handling error, 30-22. UCSD hit a game-high .382 in game four.
In the deciding game, UCSD fell behind 7-3, but would get back into the match by running off four consecutive points, the last on an Amber Ries kill. PLNU broke the tie to lead 8-7 when the teams switched courts. The teams would side out until the last tie at 13-13 as Courtney put down the tying kill. Carpenter gave the Tritons the lead on a kill assisted by Watkins. The Tritons would complete the comeback with a strong serve and bad set by PLNU.
