LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 14th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team hit at a .384 clip and swept Cal State Bakersfield 30-22, 30-23, 30-21 on Friday night in RIMAC Arena. The Tritons got most of their offense from Nicole Courtney (18 kills, six digs, three blocks), Brianna Koche (15 kills, five blocks, .652 hitting percentage) and Rebecca Bailey (11 kills, six blocks and a .556 hitting clip). The three combined for 44 kills against three errors and a .505 hitting percentage. The UCSD defense came up big as well, holding CSUB to a .138 clip and outblocking CSUB 12.0 - 3.0. Setter Kristin Halvorsen had 47 assists and seven digs in the sweep. CSUB was led by Sarah Warner with 12 kills. UCSD improves to 14-2, 9-2 CCAA, while the Roadrunners drop to 2-9, 2-9 CCAA.
CSUB led by as many as four points in game one, the last time at 11-7, forcing UCSD into a timeout. The Tritons would rally back to tie the game at 15-15 after a Bailey kill. Leading 20-18, UCSD scored three straight to open up a lead of 23-18 after a Courtney kill. CSUB would get no closer than 25-21, as a Bailey and Koche block sent the Tritons to victory in the first game 30-22.
In game two, CSUB scored the first four points of the game off Erica Baldwin's serves. The Tritons stormed right back with four straight points including two kills by Amber Ries. With the score tied at 11-11, UCSD scored nine of the next 11 points to open up a 20-13 lead. The Tritons would cruise from that point, with a 25-20 lead as the closest the Roadrunners would get. Koche put down the last kill to give UCSD the 30-23 win.
Game three saw the Tritons hit at a .444 clip as UCSD scored eight of the first 10 points to lead 8-2. CSUB came back within 15-12, but another small run by the Tritons put the game out of reach. Sylvia Schmidt would serve five consecutive points and the Tritons were ahead 24-15. UCSD would win game three 30-21.
Koche finished the night without an attack error, to go along with her 15 kills and five blocks. Bailey recorded a season-high of six blocks to go along with her 11 kills. Ries finished the night with eight kills and Schmidt added eight kills, five digs, four blocks and four aces.
UCSD is back in action on Saturday in a homecoming match against No. 16 Cal State L.A. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. in RIMAC Arena.
