No. 11 Tritons fall to No. 7 Coyotes

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. ? The 11^th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team was swept by 7^th-ranked Cal State San Bernardino 17-30, 19-30, 25-30 on Friday night at Coussoulis Arena. The loss drops the Tritons to 8-2, 3-2 CCAA while the Coyotes improve to 10-0, 5-0 CCAA. Amber Ries led the Tritons with 14 kills and hit at a .393 clip. UCSD outblocked CSUSB 7.0 ? 4.0. The usual strong Triton serving game struggled, committing 12 errors with only one ace.

Game One

With the score tied at 2-2, CSUSB scored eight straight before UCSD's Rebecca Bailey put down a kill as UCSD trailed 10-3. The Tritons continued to struggle to find a rhythm, falling behind 17-7. UCSD began to chip away and pulled within 22-16 after a Bailey and Sylvia Schmidt block, forcing CSUSB to take timeout. Right out of the timeout, CSUSB scored five straight points to lead 27-16. The Coyotes took game one 30-17. CSUSB hit .242 to UCSD's -.031. Amber Ries sent down three kills and hit .333 to pace the Tritons in the first game.

Game Two

CSUSB scored five of the first six points in game two. UCSD would fall behind by seven points before Bailey sent down a free ball to pull UCSD within 15-10. The Coyotes then scored five of the next six points to pull ahead 20-11. UCSD would pull to within 24-18 but the lead was too much for the Tritons to overcome. CSUSB took game two 30-19. Through the first two games, Bailey and Ries led the Tritons with six kills apiece.

Game Three

UCSD took its first lead of the match in the third game and the teams remained within two points of each other until the Tritons took a 9-6 lead. The margin was triggered by a Kim Adams and Schmidt block and an ace by Natalie Facchini. The Tritons extended the lead to four points, but CSUSB quickly came back to tie it at 12-12. After the eighth tie of the game at 15-15, CSUSB scored three straight to lead 18-15. After a UCSD timeout, the Coyotes hit back-to-back errors to bring the Tritons within 17-18. With the Tritons trailing 20-19, CSUSB scored three straight to lead 23-19. The Tritons would rally to cut it down to two points, but CSUSB responded again with another short run to lead 27-22. CSUSB would win game three 30-25.