DENVER - Top-level competition was the order of the day Friday as the UC San Diego women's volleyball team lost to No. 1 Tampa and No. 7 Central Missouri at the Colorado Premier Challenge.
With the losses, UCSD fell to 3-3 overall.
Scores against Tampa at Metro State's Auraria Event Center were 17-25, 25-20, 25-19 and 25-22 in favor of the reigning national champion. UT improved to 4-1.
UCSD hit a season-low .186 with 57 kills and 30 errors in 145 attacks. Tampa was much more efficient, countering at .266 with 52 kills and 18 errors in 128 attempts. The Spartans held a 6.0 to 2.0 advantage in blocks, while both teams finished with 52 digs.
Meagan Wright (San Diego/Bonita Vista HS) totaled 16.5 points to lead the Tritons offensively. The CCAA Player of the Week had 16 kills, six digs, two assists and a block assist.
Danielle Dahle (La Mesa/Grossmont HS) was just behind with 16.0 points on 14 kills and a pair of service aces, while Kameron Cooper had 11 kills and hit .316. Heidi Sierks finished with 48 assists and 15 digs and Amanda Colla (Carlsbad/San Dieguito Academy) led the team with 16 digs.
For Tampa, Marissa Lisenbee had a match-best 17 kills and 20.0 points and Logan Holanchock amassed 21 digs. Jessica Wagner hit an impressive .583 with 16 kills.
The first set was all UCSD as the Tritons out-hit the Spartans .364 (17-5-33) to .156 (11-6-32). They scored the first five points of the set and held a lead the whole way.
In the second set, UC San Diego had an early 4-0 advantage. However, down 8-5, Tampa heated up and took seven of the next eight points to go up 12-9. The Tritons were within one point several times but UT led for the remainder of the set.
Tampa kept the momentum going in the third set and got out to a 9-4 lead. Behind 16-11, UCSD rallied for three straight points on kills by Cooper and Wright and a Spartan attack error to get back within two points. UT answered with three consecutive points of its own and took a 19-14 lead, essentially sealing the set victory. The Tritons hit just .050, their lowest attack percentage of the match.
The score stayed tight early on in the final set until UT won six of seven points to go up 10-6. UCSD responded with three straight points, but the Spartans scored the next four, making the score 14-9. At 24-20, the Tritons made it interesting by turning aside two match points on a service error and an attack error by the Spartans. However, a Triton attack error ended the contest.
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Scores in the Central Missouri match, also played at Metro State's Auraria Event Center, were 25-18, 22-25, 25-17 and 25-15. The Jennies remained unbeaten at 6-0.
UCSD's offense improved its hitting percentage to .248 (45-14-125), but UCM hit a healthy .344 (70-17-154). The Jennies converted 41 percent of their sets into kills and held a .986 to .919 advantage in reception percentage. They also sided-out 63 percent of the time compared to the Tritons' 48 percent.
Dahle led UCSD with 15 kills and 18.5 points. The senior outside hitter swung at .333 and added 13 digs, three blocks (two solo) and an ace.
Cooper continued her solid play by hitting .348 with 10 kills, while Wright contributed 11 put-aways. Bailey Turk had 10 digs and Sierks dished out 33 assists.
Four Central Missouri players had 10 or more kills including Kylie Hohlen and Carly Sojka, who each finished with a match-high 16. Annie Reilly had 27 digs to lead all players and Shelby Winkelmann had three of the Jennies' seven service aces.
After dropping the first set, the Tritons were firing on all cylinders in the second. They hit .500 with 19 kills and zero miscues in 38 attacks. Backed by five kills from Dahle, UCSD got out to a 10-4 lead. A later run that put the Tritons up 17-10 contained a trio of kills from Cooper. Trailing 23-17, UCM made a late four-point run, but UC San Diego won two of the next three points, both on Wright kills, to take the set.
The third set had UCSD leading 5-2, but several small runs by Central Missouri put it ahead for good.
In the fourth and final frame, UCM bolted to a 9-2 lead and then mounted another run that put the Jennies up 16-6. The Tritons hit a match-low .031 (9-8-32).
UCSD will face Angelo State in a bronze bracket semifinal at 8:30 a.m. PT Saturday. The Rams are 6-2 overall with both of their losses coming at the Colorado Premier Challenge.
All tourney matches can be followed via live stats.
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