SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The UC San Diego women's volleyball team won its season opener by defeating Regis 30-24, 35-33, 30-25 on Thursday night at the Coyote Classic. Rebecca Bailey led the way with a match-high 17 kills and a .485 hitting percentage. Amber Ries and Sylvia Schmidt added 13 kills apiece. The Tritons kept the pressure on by serving up 10 aces, compared to one by the Rangers. Natalie Facchini added 12 digs and Michelle Torres chipped in with 11. UCSD is back in action tomorrow afternoon when it faces No. 20 Seattle Pacific at 2:30 p.m.
In the first game, the Tritons stormed out to a 6-0 lead as Elaine Chen served up five consecutive points. The Tritons would remain in front comfortably until Regis went on a run and closed within 26-23 after a UCSD error. After a Triton timeout, Amber Ries and Kim Adams sent down back-to-back kills for the 28-23 edge. After a Regis kill, Rebecca Bailey gave the Tritons game point. Hannah Gary would serve up an ace, giving UCSD the 30-24 win. UCSD hit .341 in the game.
UCSD looked to be in control of game two, storming out to a 14-4 lead after a series of Regis errors. UCSD led 18-10, when the Rangers began to chip away. With UCSD ahead 24-20, Regis scored four straight points to tie the game after a block and two UCSD errors. The teams would remain close until a Kaitlin Potter kill put UCSD up 29-28. RU came back with back-to-back kills, forcing a game point for the Rangers at 30-29. The Rangers would go on to have game point at 31-30, 32-31, and 33-32, before the Tritons broke through with consecutive Bailey kills to give the Tritons game point, leading 34-33. The Tritons went to Potter for the game ending swipe at 35-33.
Regis came out of the gates without a let down in the third game, leading 12-9. A kill by Ries, a Schmidt ace and another Ries kill tied the game at 13-13. Regis went ahead at 21-18, forcing UCSD into a timeout. With Regis leading 22-20, the Tritons went on an 8-1 run which included four kills by Bailey and the 28-23 lead. Bailey then ended the game with her third ace of the night for the 30-25 win.
