SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. ? The 11th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team captured the NCAA D-II Pacific Region Championship with a 30-24, 30-23, 20-30, 30-28 win over 4th-ranked Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday night in Coussoulis Arena. With the win, UCSD (26-2) advances to the Final Eight, played in Pensacola, Florida. The Tritons will play on Thursday at noon (EST) against 5th-ranked Minnesota Duluth (30-3) on Nov. 16. UCSD was paced by Brianna Koche with 14 kills and Rebecca Bailey added 13 with Nicole Courtney chipping in with 11. Kristin Halvorsen, Courtney, Bailey, Natalie Facchini and Koche were named to the all-tournament team.
Neither team could separate from each other early on in game one. With CSUSB leading 10-8, the Tritons ran off five straight, capped by a Rebecca Bailey and Kristin Halvorsen block, to lead 13-10 and the Coyotes called timeout. UCSD then scored five of the next six points on a Halvorsen ace, a Bailey/Sylvia Schmidt block and a Nicole Courtney kill to lead 18-12 and CSUSB called its final timeout. After the Tritons took an eight point lead at 20-12, CSUSB scored three straight, aided by UCSD errors and came within 20-15. CSUSB would not get closer than four points the rest of the way as Bailey and Schmidt put down the final two kills for UCSD at 30-24. The Tritons outhit CSUSB .200 - -.024 as the Tritons committed five errors, compared to 12 for the Coyotes.
The Tritons used strong serving with four aces early on in game two to go ahead 12-6. Halvorsen had two aces, while Schimdt and Courtney tallied the others. After the Tritons took a seven point lead, CSUSB scored three straight to cut the deficit to 13-9. After the Tritons once against upped the lead to seven, the Coyotes scored four straight to come within 17-14 as UCSD called its final timeout. For the third time in the game, UCSD upped the lead to seven at 23-16 after a Schmidt ace. With UCSD up 26-20, the Coyotes put together a rally to come within 26-23. Bailey and Courtney then put down back-to-back kills and after a CSUSB error, Schmidt ended game two with a kill, much like game one as UCSD took the game 30-23.
CSUSB led for the early part of the third game, until the Tritons took their first lead at 11-10. After nine total ties, CSUSB took an 18-15 lead, forcing the Tritons to take their first timeout of the game. The Coyotes upped the lead to 21-16 and the Tritons could not muster a rally as the Coyotes took the third 30-20.
The Tritons scored the first five points of game four as Halvorsen served up three aces. CSUSB stormed back with four straight and tied the game at 6-6. UCSD slowly built a five point lead at 13-8 after a Coyote ball handling error. After the Tritons went ahead by seven, the Coyotes cut it down to 15-11 UCSD. CSUSB was forced to take a timeout as the Tritons went on a run with Schmidt sending down a kill and part of a block with Courtney to push the Tritons ahead 20-12. The Tritons built a nine point lead only to see the Coyotes come back to within 24-20 after an error and the Tritons used their final timeout. CSUSB continued its late push to come within 25-23 before Koche sent down a kill to put the Tritons back up by three. The Coyotes answered again, this time tying it at 26-26. CSUSB took the lead at 27-26 after a kill, but the Tritons went to Koche to tie it at 27-27. Michelle Torres then came up with a timely ace to push UCSD up 28-27. After the Coyotes took sideout, a CSUSB service error put the Tritons in a spot to win the match. With Halvorsen serving, a joust at the net came away in favor of UCSD at 30-28.
The Tritons are back in action against Minnesota-Duluth on Nov. 16.
In previous regionals, CSUSB defeated UCSD in the 2004 Pacific Regional final in RIMAC Arena 3-2. CSUSB also won the regional in 2003, also hosted by UCSD. In 2002, CSUSB hosted and knocked off UCSD in the semifinals, before bowing out in the final to BYU-Hawai'i. In 2001 with San Bernardino the host, the Tritons came away with the regional title by defeating the Coyotes in five games.
