LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 4th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team swept Cal State Dominguez Hills for the ninth consecutive time, cruising to a 25-22, 25-16, 25-10 win on Saturday night. The Tritons got off to a slow start but got stronger as the match progressed. "After an exciting win last night, it was important for us to manage our energy level," said head coach
Tom Black. Nine different Tritons recorded kills in the match, led by
Sylvia Schmidt with 13 kills on .348 hitting. With the win, UCSD improves to 12-1, 4-1 California Collegiate Athletic Association, while the Toros drop to 1-10, 1-3 CCAA.
The Tritons finished the night with zero reception errors in 40 attempts. UCSD's previous low this season was two reception errors in a match against Saginaw Valley State.
UCSD added eight more aces to its conference leading total, led by Roxanne Brunsting's four aces. Brunsting reached double digits in digs (11) for the 12th time in 13 matches this season
Elaine Chen distributed the ball to the nine different Tritons who had kills. Chen finished with 38 assists, three kills, seven digs and UCSD hit at a .297 clip for the match. The senior from Walnut has the fourth highest assist total in school history. Chen is now up to 2,351 career assists, trailing Christine Kueneman (1998-2000) who had 2,546 assists. The all-time mark is held by Teresa Ohta (4,749) from 2001-04.
"One of the strengths of this team is our depth," said Black. Katie Condon had eight kills while Audrey Green added five kills on .833 hitting. Lauren Bradley, Alanna Rutan, Julia Freidenberg and Cara Simonsen also had multi-kill nights.
Schmidt has moved into the career top-10 in kills at UCSD. The senior outside hitter has recorded 911 career kills, passing Janet Hughes who had 910 from 1984-87. Schmidt has a chance to become just the seventh Triton in school history to record 1,000 kills. The last to reach that mark was Rebecca Bailey who had 1,364 kills from 2005-08.
The Tritons limited the Toros to just .038 hitting for the match, including negative percentages in the last two sets.
The Tritons recorded more blocks than the Toros, marking the fourth time this year the Tritons have outblocked an opponent. It did mark the second consecutive match the Tritons have finished with a higher block total.
In the first set, the Tritons went ahead 8-5 after a Brunsting ace and Bradley kill. CSUDH continued to push the Tritons, eventually tying the set at 12-12. Tied at 14-14, UCSD scored four straight points with the help of Brunsting's serving and two kills by Condon to push the Tritons up 18-14. CSUDH came back within one point at 20-19 after a UCSD error. After a CSUDH error, Simonsen served up an ace which gave the Tritons the momentum they needed. CSUDH came within 24-22 but Condon put the set away at 25-22.
The Tritons hit at a .257 clip in the first set, compared to just .176 for CSUDH.
CSUDH never led in the second set as the Tritons scored five of the first seven points. Leading 13-10, the Tritons closed the set on a 12-6 run for the 25-16 win.
UCSD's most efficient set came in the third set. UCSD hit at a .458 clip with 13 kills and just two errors. CSUDH recorded only four kills in the final set and hit at a -.100 clip. The Tritons scored the first six points of the set with Rutan serving. Rutan had two aces during the run. UCSD went up 18-4 to put away any doubt in the set. Freidenberg and Bradley sent down the final two kills of the set at 25-10 UCSD.
The Tritons now lead the all-time series against Cal State Dominguez Hills 38-1.
UCSD is back in action on Friday, September 25 when it hosts Chico State. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. in RIMAC Arena.
