LONG BEACH, Calif.—Despite a career night for Emily McDaniel, UC San Diego dropped a tightly contested match to Long Beach State, 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 21-25, 20-25) on Friday evening at Walter Pyramid. 
 
McDaniel led the Tritons (6-12, 3-4 Big West) offensively with a career high 15 kills, hitting .387. Zaria Henderson and Ava McInnes also reached double digit kills, finishing with 12 each, while Juliette Bokor and Trinity Castaneda added seven each. Isabela Dobra directed the offense to one of its most efficient performances of the season, with a .253 hitting percentage.
 
Defensively, Naya Dong led the way in the back court with 15 digs, while Henderson and Susanna Limb added 12 digs each. McDaniel contributed to seven of UC San Diego's nine team blocks, while Castaneda chipped in four.
 
The Beach (9-9, 3-4 Big West) dominated from the service line 8-0 in aces and equaled UC San Diego with a .253 hitting percentage in the match.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set One – UC San Diego 22, Long Beach State 25
 LBSU took the lead in set one, 10-6, but the Tritons battled back to even the opening frame 14-14. The teams traded points to a 22-22 tie before the Beach closed out the set with three-straight points to take the opener 25-22.
 
Set Two – UC San Diego 25, Long Beach State 23
The Tritons trailed, 10-14, midway through the second set before going on a 7-2 run to take the lead 17-16. The teams battled down the stretch, staying tied as late as 21-all before UC San Diego closed out the set, 25-23.
 
Set Three – UC San Diego 21, Long Beach State 25
UC San Diego took the early 8-3 lead in set three behind two kills from McInnes and back-to-back solo blocks from Dobra and McDaniel. Then a 5-0 run by LBSU put Beach on top 13-12 and the teams battled back-and-forth again to a 20-20 tie. Long Beach State closed out the set with a 5-1 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Set Four – UC San Diego 20, Long Beach State 25
Again, the Tritons took the early lead in the final set, 6-0, however LBSU would not go down quietly. The Beach answered with a dominant 15-2 run to take a 19-11 lead. The Tritons mounted a late rally, sparked by three kills and a block from McDaniel but it wasn't enough as LBSU took the final set 25-20 and the match 3-1. 

TRITON TIDBITS

• The match marked the first Division I meeting and second overall for the UC San Diego and Long Beach State programs.
• The match saw 21 ties and 6 lead changes.
• Emily McDaniel set a new career and season high, finishing with 16 kills and hitting 682.
• It is UC San Diego's ninth match to go to four sets this season, the Tritons are now 4-5 in four-set matches. 

UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns to RIMAC Arena on Saturday evening, where they will play host to Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. PT. It will be the first time the Tritons match up against the Titans this season.
 
All home matches this season will be broadcast live by ESPN+ and fans will also be able to follow along with live stats. For coverage links and UC San Diego's complete 2021 schedule, click here.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.