ROHNERT PARK, Calif. ? The 11th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team lost its final conference game of the year to Sonoma State 23-25, 25-27, 25-21, 25-23, 15-11 on Saturday night at Seawolf Gym. The Tritons served up 13 aces but could not stop SSU's Kristy Sather who finished with a match-high 22 kills. UCSD was led by Rebecca Bailey with 16 kills, Sylvia Schmidt with 15 kills on .353 hitting and Hillary Williamson with 14 kills and 18 digs. Roxanne Brunsting finished with a team-high 31 digs and four aces.
With the loss, UCSD drops to 21-6, 15-5 California Collegiate Athletic Association, while SSU improves to 23-6, 15-5 CCAA. UCSD is now 18-5 all-time against the Seawolves.
Also for the Tritons, Elaine Chen recorded 58 assists and 18 digs, Karen Reis finished with 14 digs and Michelle Torres had 12 digs.
The Tritons were down 20-17 in the first set before Katie Condon and Sylvia Schmidt recorded kills top pull UCSD within 20-19. Hillary Williamson followed with a service ace and Elaine Chen sent down a kill for UCSD's 21-20 lead. Tied at 21-21, Schmidt sent down a kill followed by an ace be Condon and UCSD led 23-21 and SSU called a timeout. SSU recorded consecutive kills to tie the set at 23-23. After an SSU service error, Schmidt served up a set ending ace at 25-23 UCSD.
In set two, UCSD was cruising with a 20-13 lead after a Kaitlin Potter kill. SSU responded with a 7-0 run to tie the set at 20-20. With the score tied at 23-23, SSU sided out and served for the set but Bailey recorded a kill to turn back set point. SSU had another chance to take the set but it was Bailey again, tying it up. This time Williamson followed with a kill to lead 26-25 and Chen put it away with a service ace at 27-25 UCSD.
After the Tritons dropped set three by a 25-21 score, UCSD used a 10-3 run to gain a 21-16 advantage in set four. SSU would not go away, using a 6-0 run to take the lead at 22-21. Tied at 23-23 after a Bailey kill, SSU forced set point and Sather sent down the kill to force the fifth set at 25-23 SSU.
The fifth set included runs by both teams. UCSD led 4-1 early, only to see SSU come back to take a 9-6 lead. The Tritons tied it at 9-9 after a Kimberly Carpenter kill. Tied at 11-11, SSU took advantage of two UCSD errors and ended the match on a block at 15-11.
The Tritons entered the week as the No. 2 ranked team in the region. The NCAA announcement is scheduled to be announced on Sunday night.
