SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. ? The 11th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team advanced to the NCAA Pacific Regional Championship with a 30-23, 18-30, 23-30, 30-24, 15-8 win over 23rd-ranked Cal State L.A. on Friday night. Down 2-1, UCSD rallied in game four to force the decisive game five. UCSD took control immediately, leading 8-2 and winning 15-8, the last two Triton points sent down by Nicole Courtney and Brianna Koche. Courtney tallied a match-high 21 kills to go along with 10 digs. Koche added 12 kills, while Rebecca Bailey added 11. Natalie Facchini had a match-high 30 digs. UCSD advances to the Pacific Regional Championship to be played on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in San Bernardino, Calif. UCSD takes on the winner of the CSUSB versus Chico State semifinal.
The Tritons maintained a small lead at the start, extending the lead to 12-8 with a Brianna Koche and Kristin Halvorsen block. After CSULA cut the deficit to 15-14, UCSD put together a small run with Sylvia Schmidt serving, putting the Tritons ahead 18-14 after a Schmidt ace. UCSD held CSULA no closer than four points the rest of the way and used a late 4-0 run which included two Schmidt aces to take the first game 30-23. The Tritons outhit CSULA .327 - .222.
The Golden Eagles came out firing in the second game, scoring eight of the first nine points to lead 8-1. CSULA upped its lead to 17-9 before the Tritons began to chip away, coming within 18-14 after a block. UCSD could not get past the four point barrier as CSULA took the second game 30-18. After only two UCSD errors in the first game, the Tritons came up with 10 in the second and hit -.050.
After seven ties and five lead changes, CSULA reached the 20 point mark first after an ace, taking a 20-17 advantage. After several side outs, a Nicole Courtney ace pulled UCSD within 24-23. CSULA came out of the timeout scoring the final six points to take the lead in the match after the 30-23 win.
The Tritons jumped out to a 7-2 lead in game four after a Halvorsen ace. CSULA got right back into the game, cutting the Triton lead down to 10-9. The Tritons came up with a small run to pull ahead 16-11 after a CSULA attack error. The Golden Eagles charged back to within 16-14, but the Tritons then scored three straight, capped by a Schmidt kill to regain a 19-14 advantage. With UCSD ahead 22-18, the Tritons scored three straight off Courtney serves to gain a 25-18 lead. The Tritons then found their blocking game with two late, back-to-back blocks to take a 28-21 lead. The Tritons then closed out and forced game five after a Bailey kill at 30-24.
UCSD scored the first three points of the fifth game and forced CSULA to take an early timeout, leading 5-1. A Courtney kill put the Tritons ahead 8-2 as the teams exchanged sides. The Golden Eagles came out with three consecutive points, forcing UCSD into a timeout, with the Tritons ahead 8-5. UCSD responded with two quick points as Schmidt served up an ace and put the Tritons ahead 10-5. After a CSULA timeout, the Golden Eagles committed three errors and UCSD went ahead 13-5. A Courtney kill then forced match point and Koche put the match away for UCSD at 15-8.
