IRVINE, Calif.– UC San Diego women's volleyball fought in its third consecutive five-set match—and ninth this season—but ultimately fell to UC Irvine, 3-2, on Tuesday evening at Bren Events Center.
After dropping the second and third sets, the Tritons (8-9, 1-4 Big West) rallied to push the match to five with the Anteaters (9-5, 2-2 Big West), but ultimately fell 26-24, 23-25, 14-25. 25-14, 8-15.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Irvine held the advantage in most statistical categories, including blocks (18-10) and kills (54-51), while the Tritons had the edge in digs (73-67). UC San Diego was held to their lowest hitting percentage at .099—their first time hitting under .100 this season.
Ava McInnes led the Tritons offensively with 13 kills, adding 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the year, as well as two aces and three blocks for a total of 17 points.
Zaria Henderson also reached double-figure kills, finishing with 10, and
Emily McDaniel added eight.
McDaniel paced the defense at the net with five blocks, while
Naya Dong led the way in the back court with 19 digs and added two aces.
Izzi Strand recorded her tenth double-double, finishing with 36 assists and 11 digs.
The teams stayed close to begin the opening set, before a 4-1 scoring run put the Tritons on top 10-7. The Anteaters answered with a 5-0 run of their own to take the lead 16-15. The teams traded points before the Tritons reached the first set point, 24-23. UCI pushed back to extend the frame, but UC San Diego ultimately too the first set, 26-24.
It was more of the same in the second set, with neither team leading by more than three and trading points to a 23-23 tie. UCI finally closed out the set with back-to-back points to take it 25-23 and even the match at 1-1.
UC Irvine carried the momentum into the third set, jumping out to a commanding 9-1 lead and never looked back. The Tritons hit -.028 as a team and the Anteaters took the set 25-14 to lead the match, 2-1.
Set four was an entirely different story for the Tritons, who led from start to finish. This time UC San Diego held the Anteaters to a -.118 hitting percentage, including five blocks and took the set handily, 25-14, to force a fifth set for the third-straight match.
However, in the deciding set, the moment swung back in favor of UC Irvine from the start. The Anteaters jumped out to an early 7-3 lead and never looked back, taking the final frame, 15-8.
TRITON TIDBITS
- This marked the ninth time the Tritons have gone the distance this season. UC San Diego currently holds a 2-7 record in five-set matches.
- With the loss, UC San Diego fell to 0-7 in the all-time series with UC Irvine and 0-1 this season.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will wrap up its stint of road games at Hawai'i on Saturday at 10 p.m. PT. 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.
