FULLERTON, Calif.–UC San Diego women's volleyball defeated Cal State Fullerton, 3-1, on Saturday evening in Titan Gym.
The Tritons (13-17, 6-12 Big West) earned the season sweep over the Titans (12-14, 6-12 Big West) with a four-set victory, 25-12, 22-25, 25-19, 25-14.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego held the advantage in kills (57-39), aces (8-4) and digs (56-33), while CSUF outblocked the Tritons, 7-3. UC San Diego hit .331 as a team, compared to .159 for the Titans.
Ava McInnes led the offense with a match-high 17 kills—adding three aces and nine digs—while
Zaria Henderson added 11 kills and
Shara Da Silva chipped in eight.
Izzi Strand tallied 40 assists, 11 digs and a team-best two blocks.
Naya Dong finished with a match-high 15 digs and added three aces for the Tritons.
The Tritons came out hot to start the match, taking an early 10-1 lead in set one. UC San Diego hit .407 as a team and led by as many as 13 on its way to a dominant first set win, 25-12.
UC San Diego carried the momentum into set two, leading 9-6 early. The Titans answered with a 4-0 run to jump in front and the teams traded the lead all the way to 20-20. CSUF outscored the Tritons 5-2 down the stretch to secure the 25-22 set victory and even the match 1-1.
Set three saw the Tritons build another early lead 14-8, but Fullerton rallied to pull within two points, 15-12. UC San Diego stalled CSUF's momentum with a 3-point run to make it 18-12 and extended its lead by as many as seven late in the set behind a .438 hitting percentage. The Tritons closed out the set on a 3-1 run to take the third frame, 25-19, and regain the lead in the match, 2-1.
In the final set, UC San Diego built an early 11-6 lead behind its best hitting percentage of the match at .500. The Tritons used a 4-0 run to build their lead even further, 15-8, and outscored the Titans 8-2 to close out the set, 25-14, and take the match, 3-1.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Ava McInnes tallied double-figure kills for the 26th time this season.
- Naya Dong recorded her 29th match with double-figure digs.
- Zaria Henderson tallied 18th match with double-figure kills.
- Izzi Strand recorded her 13th double-double of the season.
- With the win, UC San Diego improved to 4-0 in the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton and 2-0 this season.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will wrap up its 2022 schedule with two matches on the road next week, taking on CSU Bakersfield on Friday and Cal Poly on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics 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.
