SEASIDE, Calif. - The University of California San Diego women's volleyball team produced a strong all-around effort en route to defeating league opponent Cal State Monterey Bay in four sets Saturday night on the road at The Kelp Bed.
Scores were 18-25, 25-22, 25-15 and 25-12. UC San Diego is now 8-5 overall and 5-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while Monterey Bay is 7-6 and 2-4. The Tritons remain the lone unbeaten squad in the conference.
"We had a terrible start to the match but it showed we are capable of coming back even when things aren't going our way," said UCSD head coach Ricci Luyties.
Three Tritons had at least 10 kills including Meagan Wright (Bonita/Bonita Vista HS) with a match-high 13, Morgan Kissick with 11 and Jessyca Beksa with 10. Wright added 15 digs for her 10th double-double of the year.
UC San Diego's setting duties were split between Kayla Evans (San Diego/Del Norte HS) and Rachel Linden, who amassed 23 and 20 assists, respectively. Linden had three of UCSD's six service aces.
Triton Lindsey Chun led all players defensively with 20 digs.
The Otters got nine kills apiece from Maddy Underwood and Anela Visesio. Underwood had four aces as Monterey Bay totaled eight but also made seven errors from the line. Ashlynne Armstong had 19 digs.
After a weak start in the first set with the Tritons hitting .088 (9-6-34), the offense turned the other way quickly as the team attacked at .343 (16-4-35) in set two and .364 (16-4-33) in the third frame. The fourth frame saw UCSD drop down to .171 (11-5-35), but CSUMB was held to a -.056 (5-7-36) hitting percentage.
For the night, UC San Diego hit .241 (52-19-137) and Cal State Monterey Bay finished at .164 (41-19-134).
The Tritons held a hefty 65-50 advantage in digs.
"This kind of match is good for us moving forward," said Luyties. "Although it gives me more gray hairs, I'm glad we proved that we can overcome adversity."
Next on the schedule, UC San Diego hosts a pair of league matches, entertaining San Francisco State on Oct. 7 and Sonoma State on Oct. 8. Both contests start at 7:00 p.m. at RIMAC Arena.
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