LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 15th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team played one of its most complete matches of the year in a 25-15, 25-12, 26-24 sweep against Sonoma State. The win moves the Tritons into second-place and drops the Seawolves to third-place in the conference standings. Rebecca Bailey became UCSD's all-time career kills leader with her 1,183 career kill in set two, giving UCSD set point. She would later combine on a block with teammate Cara Simonsen to secure the second set. Bailey finished with a match-high 19 kills on .486 hitting. As a team, the Tritons hit at a season-high .408 clip, recording only eight errors for the entire night. The team-high percentage was UCSD's highest since it hit .476 in October of 2004 against Cal State Dominguez Hills.
With the win, UCSD improves to 13-3, 7-2 California Collegiate Athletic Association while Sonoma State drops to 15-4, 7-3 CCAA. The Tritons also improved to 18-4 all-time against the Seawolves and won the first set of the game for just the eighth time this year. UCSD is now 8-0 when it wins the first set and has won the second set eight times in eight tries after winning the first set this year.
Four Tritons hit over .400 for the night. Bailey hit at a .486 clip with 19 kills, Sylvia Schmidt finished with 12 kills on .400 hitting, Katie Condon fired eight kills on .615 hitting and Chen recorded two kills in four attempts with 45 assists and six digs in three sets. Michelle Torres led all players with 16 digs and the Tritons recorded eight service aces on the night.
Bailey, UCSD's career kills leader with 1,191, passed former Triton Stacy Dunsmore who recorded 1,182 kills from 2001-04. “I did not know I broke the record when it happened... but I heard our fans cheering very loud,” said Bailey.
SSU's Kristy Sather was held to just nine kills on .207 hitting.
In the first set, UCSD hit at a .448 clip with just two attack errors in the set. The Tritons scored 10 of the first 14 points, capped by a Hillary Williamson service ace. UCSD opened up a 19-9 lead on a kill by Condon. It was all Tritons the rest of the way as Bailey recorded the Tritons final three kills of the set in the 25-15 win.
UCSD completed the second set with a .469 attack percentage with 16 kills against just one error. With the Tritons trailing 7-5, UCSD's Williamson sent down a kill, which would start an 11-0 run. Torres served up 10 consecutive points and Condon recorded four consecutive kills during the scoring run. By the time the Seawolves recorded another point, UCSD had a 16-8 advantage. The Tritons would cruise to the win as Bailey's record setting kill gave UCSD a 24-12 lead. She combined with Simonsen with a block for the set point at 25-12.
A Schmidt kill in set three gave UCSD a 14-10 lead. SSU would chip away and tie the set at 20-20 after a Sather kill. UCSD's Bailey and Chen recorded kills and UCSD went ahead 22-20. Leading 24-21, SSU was not done as UCSD committed two errors and an SSU block tied the set at 24-24. The Tritons got a kill from Bailey, her 19th of the night to lead 25-24. For match-point, the Tritons called on Condon who put the game away for UCSD at 26-24.
UCSD is back in action on Saturday night when it takes on Humboldt State. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. in RIMAC Arena.
