LA JOLLA, Calif.–UC San Diego women's volleyball dropped a 3-0 match to Big West-leader Cal Poly on Friday evening in LionTree Arena to open up the Homecoming Weekend. 
 
The Tritons (9-12, 2-7 Big West) kept it close in all three sets, but fell to the Mustangs (11-8, 8-1 Big West) 22-25, 19-25, 22-25. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego was held to a .117 hitting percentage, compared to .296 for the Mustangs. Cal Poly held the advantage in blocks (10-7) and kills (46-33), while the Tritons won the battle at the service line (6-4) and held the slight advantage in digs (42-41).
 
Emily McDaniel led the Tritons with nine kills and three blocks, while Katie Rapp finished with eight kills, seven digs, three blocks and Ava McInnes added five kills and a team-high four blocks. Izzi Strand finished with 31 assists and two aces, while Naya Dong led the way in the back court with 12 digs and two aces. Sabire Karacaova also finished the night with seven digs.  
 
UC San Diego took the early lead in the opening set, 6-2, but the Mustangs battled back to a 10-10 tie. Cal Poly then used a 6-1 run to take the lead, 17-12, but the Tritons answered with a run of their own to tie the set again at 22-all. However, the Mustangs closed out the frame with three-consecutive points to win, 25-22. 
 
The Tritons held the advantage to open the second set all the way to 10-8, before the Mustangs tallied a 3-0 run to take the lead. The teams traded points before UC San Diego put together a four-point run to lead 16-13. Cal Poly answered again with a 5-1 run of their own, and closed out the set with seven-straight points to win, 25-19, and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
It was another close battle early in the third set, with neither team leading by more than three. With the Tritons leading 13-10, Cal Poly rattled off five-straight points to jump in front, 15-13. The teams traded the lead to a 22-22 tie, but the Mustangs shut the door on a comeback with a 4-0 run to close out the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-0.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• The match saw 23 ties and 12 lead changes and marked only the second time the Tritons have been swept all season.
• UC San Diego's .117 hitting percentage was its third-lowest of the season.
• It was the first match of the season where the Tritons did not have a kill leader in double-figures.
• With the loss, UC San Diego fell to 0-3 in the all-time series with Cal Poly and 0-1 on the season. 

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will host CSU Bakersfield on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT for the Karen E. Reis Memorial Match to close out the Homecoming Weekend. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
 
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.