ARCATA, Calif. ? The 19th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team remained undefeated against Humboldt State, defeating the Lumberjacks 30-17, 30-20, 28-30, 23-30, 15-7 on Friday night in East Gym on the HSU campus. The win gives UCSD an 8-3 mark in conference games away from RIMAC this season. UCSD cruised to wins in games one and two, and led 24-14 in game three before a late rally by HSU gave the ?Jacks the 30-28 win. HSU continued its momentum in the fourth game, outscoring the Tritons 30-23. UCSD recovered to put away HSU in the fifth game, with the help of three of its 21 aces in the match. Kim Adams recorded 50 assists as four Tritons recorded at least 10 kills.
UCSD improves to 17-7, 11-5 CCAA while the Lumberjacks drop to 9-15, 5-11 CCAA. The Tritons hold a half-game lead over Cal Poly Pomona for second-place in the conference.
Sylvia Schmidt led the way for UCSD with 18 kills, five digs and a career-high six aces. Rebecca Bailey had 14 kills while Ries added 12 kills. Hannah Gary recorded 10 kills without an error, hitting at a single-match career-high .588 clip. The 21 aces was also a season-high for the Tritons. It was the third consecutive five-game match for the Tritons. Natalie Facchini recorded at least 30 digs for the second time this season.
In the first game, UCSD got off to a blistering start with 11 kills in 16 attempts. Leading 6-5, UCSD went on a 7-1 and led 15-7 after back-to-back kills by Sylvia Schmidt and Casey Wilson. After a HSU timeout, UCSD quickly stretched its lead to 13 points at 23-10 and would cruise to the 30-17 win. Schmidt recorded six kills in seven attempts and Ries put down four kills in six attempts. As a team, UCSD hit .559 in the game with 21 kills against two errors.
Consecutive aces by Kim Adams and two kills by Ries helped the Tritons to a 10-5 lead in game two. HSU came back within 12-10 and the Tritons called timeout. UCSD upped its lead to five points at 17-12 after kills by Schmidt and Rebecca Bailey. HSU cut the Triton lead down to 19-17, but the Tritons scored the next four points and were never threatened for the rest of the game. Schmidt served up consecutive aces to close out game two at 30-20 UCSD.
HSU scored five of the first six points of the third game, but the Tritons came right back with a 6-0 run off a Kimberly Carpenter service run. With UCSD ahead 9-7, the Tritons went on another six-point run, led by Hannah Gary's three kills and a block to lead 15-7. The Tritons took a 10 point lead at 24-14 as Bailey recorded UCSD's last three kills in the run. HSU made a late run, outscoring UCSD 11-3 to cut the deficit down to 27-25 UCSD and the Tritons were forced to call timeout. Out of the timeout, HSU scored two straight points off kills to tie up the game at 27-27. After an HSU ball handling error, HSU responded to take the lead and wrap-up the game at 30-28 after a UCSD attack error.
The ?Jacks looked poised to force a fifth game, scoring eight of the first 10 points of game four, taking an 8-2 lead. UCSD pulled within 15-13 after Schmidt's fifth and sixth aces of the match. After HSU extended its lead to seven points, the Tritons gave one last push after a Wilson ace and block by Bailey and Schmidt cut the deficit down to 25-23. The ?Jacks scored the last five points of the game to force the fifth game.
Bailey's kill in the fifth game, gave the Tritons an 8-4 lead as the teams exchanged sides. After Adams served up UCSD's third ace of the fifth game, Ries sent down a kill to put the Tritons on top 12-4. Kills by Ries and Wilson would close out the fifth game in favor of the Tritons at 15-7.
UCSD is back in action with its final homestand of the 2007 year. The Tritons will host Sonoma State on Friday, November 9 and Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday, November 10. First serve for both matches is set for 7:00 p.m. There will be a short ceremony before first serve on Senior Night against CSUMB. UCSD will honor its five seniors in Kim Adams, Hannah Gary, Casey Wilson, Natalie Facchini and Amber Ries.
