LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 12th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team ended No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino's undefeated season with a 30-19, 23-30, 29-31, 30-25, 15-12 win on Saturday night in RIMAC Arena in front of 1,009 fans. In the decisive fifth game, UCSD fell behind 9-5 before scoring four straight and tying the game at 9-9 with a series of blocks. Tied at 11-11, UCSD scored three straight as Rebecca Bailey had two kills in the span. The Tritons won game five on a CSUSB attack error. Nicole Courtney led the Tritons with 14 kills and 29 digs. Bailey and Brianna Koche sent down 13 kills apiece. Kristin Halvorsen had four kills to go along with 48 assists. With the win, UCSD improves to 19-2, 14-2 CCAA, while the Coyotes drop to 21-1, 15-1 CCAA.
Both teams blocked well as UCSD tallied 16.5 and CSUSB had 12. Bailey had nine blocks to go along with her 13 kills. The outside hitter was part of three consecutive blocks in game five, bringing the Tritons back into the final game. Koche also put up nine blocks and freshman Sylvia Schmidt had five blocks with eight kills.
Game one and two were similar for each winning team. In game one, UCSD tallied 12 kills and four errors and won 30-19. In game two, CSUSB hit 12 kills and four errors for the 30-23 win. The losing team of each game had 11 kills and 11 errors.
Both teams were close in game three as the Tritons had a chance to serve for the game with the 29-28 lead. Lindsay Olhausen of CSUSB put down the tying kill and kills by Jessica Granados and Alyssa Auck put CSUSB on top for the win at 31-29.
Tied at 23-23 in game four, consecutive CSUSB errors put the Tritons ahead 25-23. Koche then nailed down a kill for the 26-23 advantage. UCSD would not let the Coyotes back into the game this time, as Bailey put down back-to-back kills to end the game 30-25 UCSD.
CSUSB took control early in game five with a 9-5 lead. After a CSUSB attack error, UCSD put down a block party with three consecutive blocks for the next three points as Bailey accounted for two block assists and a solo in the stretch to tie the game at 9-9. Tied at 11, Bailey hammered a kill, followed by a CSUSB ball handling error and UCSD led 14-11 after a Kristin Halvorsen ace. A CSUSB attack error proved to be the final, 15-12 UCSD.
UCSD is back in action on Wednesday, October 25th when it travels to take on CSUDH. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. in Carson.
