ARCATA, Calif. - A mighty turnaround by the UC San Diego women's volleyball team led to a come-from-behind, five-set victory over league opponent Humboldt State Thursday night at Lumberjack Arena.
After dropping the first two sets, 21-25 and 21-25, UCSD won the next three by scores of 26-24, 25-21 and 18-16. The Tritons improved to 8-4 overall and 6-2 in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play. HSU had its four-match win streak snapped and fell to 8-4 and 5-3.
UCSD hit .182 in the opening set and .162 in the second, but then made a dramatic improvement, swinging at .317 in the third frame and .500 in both the fourth and fifth sets.
"The first two sets we were a step slow but still competed hard, so I knew we could win some games," said UCSD head coach Ricci Luyties. "We came out in the third and cut down on the errors, were more alert on defense and blocked well."
The Tritons finished with a season-best .311 (69-19-161) attack percentage, the first time this year the team has hit north of .300. They totaled 16.5 blocks, also a season-high, and held a 75-66 advantage in digs.
Caitlin Brenton had 20 kills, Danielle Dahle (La Mesa/Grossmont HS) amassed 18 and Kameron Cooper had 15. Cooper and Alyssa McNeely each recorded seven blocks, while setter Heidi Sierks had 65 assists and 15 digs. Bailey Turk had a match co-high 21 digs.
For the Lumberjacks, Ashley Owen led all players with 24 kills. Five others had 10 or more kills and Haley Biles was the leader on defense with 21 digs.
As a team, Humboldt hit .228 (78-33-197).
UCSD had three match points in the fifth set that were turned away by Humboldt State. At 16-16, a Lumberjack attack error gave another match point to the Tritons, and they put it away this time with blocks by McNeely and Sierks.
"Humboldt is a good team and they weren't going to give us any easy points," said Luyties. "We talked about how we needed to play at a much higher level than we have been to even win a set. It was a great win on the road against a tough, well-coached team."
The Tritons are now 20-0 all-time against the Lumberjacks.
UCSD will face another challenge on the road Saturday at eighth-ranked Cal State San Bernardino (8-4, 5-3). The eight-time defending CCAA champion has lost to three league teams that the Tritons have defeated already this season - Cal Poly Pomona, Humboldt State and San Francisco State.
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