ROHNERT PARK, Calif. ? The 11th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team defeated Sonoma State 30-27, 30-15, 30-19 to wrap up the California Collegiate Athletic Association schedule with a 23-2 overall mark and 18-2 CCAA. The Tritons finished conference play in second-place and should enter the NCAA Division II Pacific Regional as the Region's No. 2 team behind Cal State San Bernardino. The Tritons, winners of 15 straight, will find out who their postseason opponent is on Sunday afternoon. UCSD hit a blistering .593 as a team in the second game and used that momentum to win the match. Brianna Koche led UCSD with 12 kills and added seven digs and four blocks. Rebecca Bailey added 11 kills while Sylvia Schmidt chipped in with nine kills and hit .467. Nicole Courtney had a team-high 17 digs.
UCSD went 2-0 on its roadtrip to Humboldt State and Sonoma State, a trip that covered over 1,500 miles. The Tritons became the first team this year to win in Rohnert Park after playing the previous night in Arcata.
In the first game, SSU scored four of the first five points before UCSD tied the match and went ahead 6-5 on back-to-back aces by Karen Reis. UCSD would open a 15-11 lead on Nicole Courtney's team leading 56th ace of the season. SSU then put together four straight points and the game was tied at 16-16. UCSD would keep a two point lead, before Bailey slammed down a kill to put UCSD up 26-23. UCSD went on to win game one 30-27. The Tritons had an uncharacteristic nine attack errors and were outhit .209-.109 in the game.
After hitting just .109 in game one, the Tritons were hot in game two, totaling just one error as UCSD hit a blistering .593 (17-1-27) in the game. Leading 6-4 in game two with Courtney serving, UCSD scored six straight which included back-to-back blocks by Koche and Kristin Halvorsen, an Amber Ries kill and a Courtney ace as UCSD went ahead 12-4, forcing SSU to call timeout. UCSD would continue to roll, opening up leads as large as 16 points and cruised to the 30-15 win.
With the score tied at 14-14 in game three, UCSD ran off five straight points, including two aces by Rohnert Park native Halvorsen and the Tritons led 19-14. Leading 20-16, UCSD had another mini-run, opening up a 24-16 advantage which included a Sylvia Schmidt kill and ace, along with two SSU errors. After back-to-back Bailey kills, UCSD matched its largest lead of game three at 29-18. Koche then sent down the final kill for the UCSD win at 30-19.
Facchini's 16 digs give her 396 this season. The single-season record was set last year by Laura Watkins with 408.
UCSD will find out when and where it will be playing next in the NCAA DII Pacific Regional. The announcement is slated to be released on Sunday afternoon. The Pacific Regional will consist of eight teams with matches beginning on Thursday, November 9.
