LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 4th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team hit at a season-high .361 clip and defeated 23rd-ranked Chico State 25-20, 22-25, 25-14, 25-18 in front of 591 fans in RIMAC Arena on Friday night. Sylvia Schmidt sent down a match-high 17 kills on .406 hitting. Hillary Williamson added 16 kills on .353 hitting while Lauren Bradley recorded 11 kills and hit at a .500 clip. "Offensively we were strong tonight," said head coach Tom Black. "Elaine (Chen) did a great job," continued Black.

With the win, UCSD improves to 13-1, 5-1 California Collegiate Athletic Association, while the Wildcats drop to 12-3, 3-2 CCAA. The Tritons and Wildcats have split their season series in two of the last three years. The teams will meet again on October 31 in Chico.

The .361 hitting clip against the Wildcats surpassed UCSD's .357 clip in a sweep against Alaska Anchorage on September 5th at the Triton Invitational.

UCSD's efficient hitting enabled the Tritons to overcome a night when they served up just five aces and committed 22 service errors. Nine service errors came in the second set loss, a set which saw the Tritons hit at a .424 clip.

Chen finished with 47 assists, nine digs, two kills and two blocks. Julia Freidenberg added eight kills on .375 hitting and Cara Simonsen had a team-high four blocks.

Freidenberg has now hit over .300 in six consecutive matches. For the season, the redshirt freshman has hit over a .300 clip in nine of 11 matches.

Williamson's 16 kills was just one shy of her career-high of 17 kills. During her freshman campaign in 2008, Williamson had 17 kills 365 days ago, tallying the mark against Cal State San Bernardino on September 26.

In the first set, the Tritons started slowly, trailing 6-3. UCSD got its first lead at 10-9 on a three point service run by Simonsen. The Tritons would never surrender the lead, but the Wildcats stayed close throughout. With UCSD holding a 20-19 lead, a CSUC service error followed by a Chen ace put UCSD up 22-19. After a Chico State kill, Bradley and Williamson had consecutive kills to force set point. Freidenberg and Bradley blocked the Chico State attack for the final point of the set at 25-20 Tritons.

The Tritons looked to be headed to a second set victory, ahead 18-15 after a UCSD triple block. From that point the Wildcats went on an 8-2 run to take a 23-20 lead. UCSD came back within 23-22 after a Schmidt kill, but a Chico State kill and UCSD error gave the Wildcats the set two win at 25-22. The Tritons hit at a .424 clip while CSUC hit at a .222 clip in the set.

In the third set, the Tritons scored four of the first five points and never looked back. With UCSD leading 14-10, the Tritons went on an 11-4 run to close out the set, the final point coming on a Schmidt block at 25-14.

The Tritons continued their run in the fourth set. With UCSD leading 10-7, the Tritons scored seven of the next 10 points to take a commanding 17-10 advantage. CSUC would get no closer than four points the rest of the way as Schmidt sent down the match ending kill at 25-18.

The win was career victory No. 99 for Black. Black is in his fifth season at the helm for the Tritons.

UCSD is back in action on Saturday night when it hosts Cal State Stanislaus. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. in RIMAC Arena.