LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 17th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team dispatched of Seattle Pacific 24-26, 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 Saturday afternoon to finish the 2008 Triton Invitational with a perfect 4-0 record. The senior outside hitting duo of Rebecca Bailey and Kim Carpenter led the way, recording a combined 21 kills, while Roxanne Brunsting racked up a season-high 30 digs and Elaine Chen dished out 40 assists.
The Tritons also defeated Notre Dame de Namur (3-0), Lynn University (3-1), and No. 24 BYU-Hawaii (3-1) in Triton Invitational action and now enter CCAA play with an impressive overall mark of 6-1.
“The purpose of hosting the Triton Invitational is definitely to prepare us for conference play,” head coach Tom Black said. “We saw some tough opponents over the last three days and we got a pretty god idea of where we're at heading into the start of the conference season.”
For the second day in a row, UCSD looked sluggish in the opening game and dropped the first set on three straight points by the Falcons. The Tritons took a 12-7 advantage on an ace by Janessa Werhane, but SPU rallied to within one at 13-12 following UCSD attack error. Seattle Pacific remained within striking distance and took a 21-19 before a Kaitlin Potter kill put the home team back in front, 22-21. A kill by Joelle Perez tied the score at 24-24, and consecutive Triton errors awarded the visitors the first set, 24-26.
Just like they did against BYU-Hawaii on Friday night, the Tritons bounced back in the second set and raced out to a 10-5 lead following a Slyvia Schmidt kill. Schmidt teamed with Hillary Williamson for a big block to push the UCSD advantage to 17-10, but SPU used a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to 18-15. The Tritons responded with another kill from Schmidt and went on to close out the set with a Carpenter kill at 25-19.
UCSD hit at just a .231 clip in the third game with 15 kills against six errors, but the visitors weren't any better, managing a meager mark of .040. Seattle Pacific battled UC San Diego tough for much of the set, tying the score at 15-15, but the Tritons scored the next four points and went on to take it on back-to-back kills from Bailey and another ace from Werhane.
The score was close early on in the fourth game as well, but UCSD began to pull in front and took a 17-12 lead on excellent serving from Chen, Michelle Torres, and Werhane. A Cara Simonsen kill pushed the lead to 21-14, before SPU rattled off three straight to stay in it. The Tritons were too much in the end, however, and kills from Carpenter and Williamson put the set out of reach for the Falcons. UCSD wrapped up the match on a Seattle Pacific service error to win its sixth contest in a row after dropping its season-opener to then-No. 1-ranked Concordia-St. Paul.
Lynn swept Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State San Bernardino posted a pair of 3-1 victories over BYU-Hawaii and Lynn, and Cal State LA knocked off Notre Dame de Namur 3-0 in other action on the final day of the Triton Invitational. Fellow CCAA members Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State LA also finished the tournament with unblemished records.
The Golden Eagles and Toros will return to RIMAC Arena next weekend for the start of CCAA play. UCSD will host Cal State LA Friday before taking on CSUDH on Saturday. Both matches are slated to start at 7:00 p.m.
UCSD Triton Invitational All-Tournament Team
Gabriela Bulawczyk ? Jr. ? OH ? Cal State LA
Ursula Vieira ? Sr. ? RS ? Cal State LA
Jessica Granados ? Sr. ? RS ? Cal State San Bernardino
Rebecca Bailey ? Sr. ? OH ? UC San Diego
Elaine Chen ? Jr. ? S ? UC San Diego
Kimberly Carpenter ? Sr. ? OH ? UC San Diego
Meghan Haas ? Sr. ? L ? Cal State San Bernardino
