LOS ANGELES, Calif. ? The 19th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team swept 6th-ranked Cal State L.A. 30-27, 30-22, 30-28 in the conference openers for both teams in Los Angeles. UCSD outblocked CSULA 11.5 ? 3.0 and outhit the Golden Eagles .280 - .164. Rebecca Bailey led the Tritons with 17 kills and hit .467. Nicole Courtney added 16 kills and 10 digs. UCSD improves to 6-0, 1-0 CCAA while CSULA drops to 4-2, 0-1 CCAA. The Tritons are back in action on Saturday night at Cal State Bakersfield. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
CSULA got out to a quick start in game one, leading 6-3. The Tritons took the lead at 9-8 as the lead would change several more times. Down 21-19, UCSD regrouped after a timeout and scored three straight points on a Bailey kill and two aces by Bailey to take the lead at 22-21. The Tritons extended the lead to 29-25 and closed the game on a Bailey kill at 30-27.
Game two was tied at 19-19 when UCSD scored six straight points as Bailey started the run with a kill, followed by two kills by Kristin Halvorsen, mixed with two aces by Karen Reis. Nicole Courtney put down a kill for the six straight Triton point at 25-19. UCSD would go on to win game two at 30-22.
The Tritons took the largest lead of game three at 20-16 and were looking toward a sweep. However, after a CSULA timeout, the Golden Eagles rallied off four straight to tie it up at 20-20. CSULA would go in front 22-21 on a UCSD attack error. CSULA then extended the lead to 27-24 and it looked like a game four would be a possibility. Brianna Koche quickly swung the momentum back with a solo block and Courtney followed with an ace and the Tritons were within 27-26. Out of the CSULA timeout, the Golden Eagles sent down a kill to go ahead 28-26. UCSD would then score three consecutive points off kills by Koche and two by Bailey to lead 29-28. The Tritons won the match on a block assist by Koche and Halvorsen 30-28.
Brianna Koche ended the night with eight kills and seven blocks while Amber Ries and Sylvia Schmidt added seven kills apiece. Michelle Torres had 11 digs while Natalie Facchini had a match-high 20 digs. Halvorsen ran the offense with 52 assists, six digs and three blocks.
