MILE HIGH TALENT
UCSD travels to Denver this week to take part in the ultra-competitive Colorado Premier Challenge, co-hosted by Metro State and Regis. The 12-team tourney features No. 1 Tampa, No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State, No. 4 Concordia-St. Paul, No. 7 Central Missouri, No. 13 Ferris State, No. 18 Colorado Mesa, No. 25 West Florida, Angelo State (receiving votes), Metro State, Missouri S&T (receiving votes), Regis and UCSD (receiving votes). As part of Pool 1, the Tritons take on reigning national champion Tampa (11 a.m.) and Central Missouri (2:30 p.m.) Friday at MSU's Auraria Event Center. Saturday's match-ups will be determined by Friday's results. For complete info, visit the tournament central page.

MATCH COVERAGE
Both of Friday's contests will be covered by live stats. Saturday, bronze bracket matches will have live stats while gold and silver bracket matches will have live stats and live video. In addition, the gold bracket third-place and championship matches will be broadcast live by ESPN3.

THE SCHEDULE
Match 5
vs. No. 1 Tampa (3-1)
Friday, Sept. 11 • 11:00 a.m.
Auraria Event Center • Denver, Colo.
Live Stats

Match 6
vs. No. 7 Central Missouri (5-0)
Friday, Sept. 11 • 2:30 p.m.
Auraria Event Center • Denver, Colo.
Live Stats

Match 7
vs. RV Angelo State (6-2)
Saturday, Sept. 12 • 8:30 a.m.
Auraria Event Center • Denver, Colo.
Live Stats

Match 8
vs. TBD
Saturday, Sept. 12 • TBD
Auraria Event Center • Denver, Colo.
Live Stats

WEEKLY REWIND
UCSD opened its 2015 season with exceptional play at Point Loma's Seaside Invitational. The Tritons went 3-1, defeating No. 10 Colorado Mesa, Concordia (Calif.) and Regis and dropping a super-tight, five-set match against the host.
UCSD/Colorado Mesa recap/box score
UCSD/Concordia recap/box score
UCSD/Regis recap/box score
UCSD/Point Loma recap/box score

WRIGHT NAMED CCAA PLAYER OF THE WEK
Meagan Wright earned the season's first CCAA Volleyball Player of the Week nod Wednesday. Competing in her first career matches as a Triton at the Seaside Invitational, the junior transfer led the team in kills and kills/set and was second in digs and blocks. In a 3-0 upset of No. 10 Colorado Mesa, Wright tallied match-highs with 14 kills and 16 points. She had match-highs with 22 kills and 23 points vs. Regis, a team-best 13 digs vs. Concordia and a team-high 26 digs against Point Loma.

COLLA, WRIGHT PICK UP ALL-TOURNEY HONORS
Along with Meagan Wright, Amanda Colla was named to the Seaside Invitational All-Tournament Team. Colla, who has moved to libero after spending the 2014 season at outside, totaled 63 digs during the tourney for an average of 4.2/set.

MAKING THEIR DEBUTS
Several Tritons made their collegiate debuts last week at Point Loma including Molly Dalziel, Kayla Evans and Morgan Kissick. In addition, transfers Shaelyn Perez and Meagan Wright also saw their first action as Tritons.

DAHLE CLIMBING
In 2014, Danielle Dahle became UCSD's all-time leader in attack attempts. Currently, she's fifth in career kills with 1,140 and needs 225 more to eclipse No. 1 Rebecca Bailey, who totaled 1,364 between 2005 and 2008. Additionally, Dahle is 10th on the school's career digs list with 960. Only two Tritons have accumulated 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs during their careers (Stacy Dunsmore, Hillary Williamson).

SIERKS WORKS
Setter Heidi Sierks has amassed 2,594 career assists, the fourth-most in program history. Teresa Ohta (2001-04) is UCSD's all-time leader with 4,749 helpers.

DOUBLE PLAYS
Three Tritons have recorded a total of six double-doubles so far this season:
Heidi Sierks (3)
9/5 vs. Point Loma (54a, 22d)
9/5 vs. Regis (54a, 16d)
9/4 vs. Colorado Mesa (30a, 11d)

Danielle Dahle (2)
9/5 vs. Point Loma (23k, 14d)
9/5 vs. Regis (16k, 13d)

Meagan Wright (1)
9/5 vs. Point Loma (14k, 26d)

NET WORTH
Kameron Cooper and Alyssa McNeely were stalwarts at the net for UCSD last season. Both finished with a team-best 91 total blocks, McNeely averaging 1.0/set and Cooper averaging 0.9/set. In CCAA matches, McNeely put down 1.06 blocks/set, second among all players in the conference. At 1.02/set, Cooper was fourth. As a team, the Tritons averaged 2.5 blocks/set in CCAA matches, second behind Cal State San Bernardino (2.6).

POLL POSITION
The Tritons are receiving votes in the first AVCA regular season national poll, which was released Monday. Tampa is No. 1 and is followed by Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth. From the CCAA, Cal State San Bernardino is 18th and Sonoma State is 22nd. Cal State L.A. is receiving votes.

MANY HAPPY RETURNERS
UCSD returns five starters from the 2014 season, including:
Amanda Colla, OH, So. (97 sets, 2.4 k/s, 0.2 sa/s, 3.1 d/s, 2.8 p/s)
Kameron Cooper, MB/OPP, Sr. (100 sets, 2.0 k/s, .227 att%, 0.9 b/s, 2.6 p/s)
Danielle Dahle, OH, Sr. (95 sets, 2.9 k/s, 2.6 d/s, 3.3 p/s)
Alyssa McNeely, MB, So. (91 sets, 1.7 k/s, 1.0 b/s, 2.3 p/s)
Heidi Sierks, S, Sr. (102 sets, 9.9 a/s, 3.3 d/s)

Also returning are:
Rebecca Seaberry, MB, So. (30 sets, 0.4 k/s, 0.8 b/s, 0.9 p/s)
Bailey Turk, L, So. (56 sets, 3.3 d/s)
Meagan Wright, OH/MB, Jr. (2014 redshirt)

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
Molly Dalziel, OH, Fr.
Kayla Evans, L, Fr.
Morgan Kissick, OH/OPP, Fr.
Madelaine Mahone, S, Fr.
Shaelyn Perez, OH/OPP, Jr. (transfer from Irvine Valley College)

2014 AT A GLANCE
UCSD finished its 2014 season at 14-12 overall and 12-10 in the CCAA, tied for sixth place with SF State. The Tritons missed out on an NCAA postseason berth for just the second time in program history (2005). Caitlin Brenton was named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and First Team All-CCAA, while Danielle Dahle earned honorable mention from the league.

2015 CCAA PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Cal State San Bernardino, 136 points (5 first-place votes)
2. Sonoma State, 134 (7)
3. Cal State L.A., 114 (1)
4. UC San Diego, 109
5. Humboldt State, 105
6. Cal Poly Pomona, 97
7. Chico State, 76
8. SF State, 65
9. Cal State Monterey Bay, 49
10. Cal State East Bay, 48
11. Cal State San Marcos, 41
12. Cal State Dominguez Hills, 22
13. Stanislaus State, 18

HEAD COACH RICCI LUYTIES
UCSD head coach Ricci Luyties is in his sixth season leading the Tritons. Luyties holds a 101-44 (.697) record through his first five seasons. He recorded his 100th UCSD victory on Nov. 8, 2014, as the Tritons downed Humboldt State in four sets at RIMAC Arena. Luyties came to La Jolla after six seasons as head coach at Southern Mississippi. As a player, the setter led UCLA to four consecutive national titles and a pair of undefeated seasons. Luyties and Team USA won gold medals at the 1988 Olympics and 1987 Pan American Games. He was also a standout beach player, competing regularly on the AVP Tour and FIVB World Tour.

YOU LOOK FAMILIAR
Former Triton Brittany Lombardi is back with the team this season as an assistant coach. As a libero/defensive specialist for UCSD from 2010-13, Lombardi finished her career with 1,190 digs, which ranks sixth on the school's all-time list. She holds program and CCAA single season records with 644 digs in 2013. Lombardi also set a UCSD single match mark with 42 digs at Cal State Monterey Bay in 2012. She earned Daktronics All-West Region Second Team accolades in 2013.

TAMPA AT A GLANCE
Defending national champion and top-ranked Tampa enters Friday's match with a 3-1 record. The Spartans hosted a tournament last week, recording 3-0 wins against Wayne State, Western Washington and Wheeling Jesuit before falling in five sets to Minnesota-Duluth. The loss snapped a 33-match win streak for UT. Berkley Whaley, Marissa Lisenbee and Logan Holanchock were all named to the all-tourney team. In 2014, Tampa went 34-1 and defeated Southwest Minnesota State in straight sets for the national title. The Tritons and Spartans have never played each other.

CENTRAL MISSOURI AT A GLANCE
Central Missouri, ranked seventh nationally, brings a perfect 5-0 record to Denver. The Jennies hosted a tourney last week and wound up beating Western State, St. Cloud State, Truman State, Mary and Illinois-Springfield - all in three sets. Annie Reilly was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Specialist of the Week while Carly Sojka picked up MIAA Hitter of the Week accolades. Friday will be the first-ever meeting between UCSD and UCM.

INAUGURAL CCAA TOURNAMENT COMING TO LA JOLLA
UC San Diego is the proud host of the inaugural CCAA Volleyball Tournament, which will take place Nov. 19-21 at RIMAC Arena. The top eight teams in the regular season standings will qualify for the tourney.

GEAR UP
For the latest in Triton athletic gear, make sure to visit ucsdtritonsgear.com. Run by UCSD Athletics' online partner Advanced-Online, the site provides an on-demand option for Triton Athletic apparel and merchandise. Fans have access to over 600 products which can be produced and shipped in 24 hours.

FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UCSD home athletic events and much more!

SOCIAL SKILLS
UCSD Athletics on Facebook (UCSDtritons)
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UCSD Athletics on YouTube (UCSDathletics)
UCSD Women's Volleyball on Instagram (ucsd_wvb)
UCSD Women's Volleyball on Twitter (ucsd_wvb)

WHAT'S NEXT?
UCSD heads into CCAA play on the road next week. The Tritons take on Cal State San Bernardino on Tuesday, Sept. 15 and play Cal State San Marcos on Thursday, Sept. 17. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Tritons and Cougars.

#TritonsRising