BAKERSFIELD, California—The UC San Diego women's volleyball team fell in straight sets at Big West Conference rival CSU Bakersfield Saturday night.
Scores from the Icardo Center were 25-19, 25-19, and 25-21.
The Tritons fell to 7-14 overall and 4-6 in Big West play, while the Roadrunners improved to 12-6 and 5-5.
UC San Diego was coming off a grueling five-set loss at UC Santa Barbara Friday. CSU Bakersfield came back from two sets down to defeat UC Irvine in five sets Friday.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Outside hitter
Ava McInnes led all players with 13 kills, almost half of UC San Diego's total of 30 on the night. McInnes hit a team-best .300 with the 13 kills and four errors in 30 total attack attempts. The next-highest number of swings by a Triton was 13.
McInnes had a solid all-around outing as she and libero
Naya Dong led the team in digs with five each. McInnes also added three service aces, two assists, and a block. In fact, Dong matched her with three aces and two assists.
Setter
Isabela Dobra had 20 assists and four digs.
UC San Diego couldn't get its offense going and ended up hitting .140 (30-17-93) to CSU Bakersfield's .391 (43-9-87). The Tritons did have a strong night at the service line, connecting for eight total aces while making no errors.
Aside from hitting percentage, the Roadrunners also held a substantial advantage in digs, leading 39 to 26.
Milica Vukobrat had 10 kills and hit .526 for CSU Bakersfield, while Paige Calvin had an impressive six aces. Calvin and Seleisa Elisaia each totaled nine digs.
The match featured 17 tie scores and seven lead changes.
In the opening set, an attack error by the Roadrunners allowed the Tritons to tie it up at 10-10. However, the home team won six of the next seven points to take a 16-11 lead. UC San Diego got back to within two points when a McInnes kill made it 18-16. CSU Bakersfield responded by winning four straight points to earn a six-point, 22-16 lead and the Tritons could not climb back in it again. UC San Diego hit .094 and CSUB hit .433 in the frame.
Trailing 10-8 in the second set, CSU Bakersfield reeled off an eight-point run to take a 16-10 lead. UC San Diego, as it did in the first set, cut the deficit to two points at 19-17. The Roadrunners immediately distanced themselves by taking the next three points to bring it to 22-17. McInnes had five kills in the set. Bakersfield out-hit UC San Diego .435 to .212.
The third set saw the Tritons get out to an early 3-0 lead. When the Roadrunners rebounded and went up 4-3, it was then a back-and-forth battle all the way to 9-9. UC Riverside then earned the next four points and stayed in front until a double block by McInnes and opposite
Grace Cannon evened it up at 21-21. Following a timeout by CSUB, the Roadrunners came back on the floor and won the next four points to ice the victory. McCluskey had two kills during the winning run. Again, the Roadrunners held a sizable lead in hitting, .324 to .107.
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WHAT HEAD COACH RICCI LUYTIES HAD TO SAY
"We had problems getting our offense going tonight.
I felt like we were a little predictable at times. With that and giving up runs of points, we were behind all night trying to get in the flow.
We also hit too many unforced errors when we had good plays happening, which really added to our offensive struggles."
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TRITON TIDBITS
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Naya Dong has finished with a double-digit dig total 17 times and has had at least 20 on six occasions.
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Ava McInnes has logged 10 or more kills in 13 of 21 matches, which includes her last five outings.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns to La Jolla to host a pair of Big West matches next week to begin the second half of its conference season. On Friday, October 29, the Tritons welcome CSUN and then entertain UC Santa Barbara the next night. Both contests are set for 7 p.m. starts inside RIMAC Arena.
For live coverage links and UC San Diego's complete 2021 schedule,
click here.
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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 84 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.
