SAN DIEGO — UC San Diego women's volleyball got their 2022 season off to a winning start Friday afternoon, defeating the Army Black Knights, 3-1 in the Tritons' first of three matches at the San Diego State Invitational Tournament.
 
The scores were 21-25, 25-19, 25-15, and 25-23 in favor of UC San Diego.
 
The Tritons are 1-0, while the Black Knights dropped to 0-2 on the young season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Army took the first set as the Tritons' offense got off to a slow start, hitting only .140 as a team. UC San Diego hit even worse in the second set (.051), but was able to capitalize on Army's mistakes, with the Black Knights committing as many attack errors as the Tritons had kills (8) in the set.
 
In the third, UC San Diego's offense kicked into gear in a big way. They hit .647 as a team in the frame, with Emily McDaniel recording five kills, plus a pair of blocks. The fourth set was a much closer affair, featuring ten ties. However, when the Tritons took a 14-13 lead, they never gave it back. McDaniel's match-high sixth block secured UC San Diego's victory.
 
Blocks were one of two positive categories the Tritons led the match in (10 to 7), the other being hitting percentage (.213 to .133). Despite taking fewer attempts, recording fewer kills and fewer aces, UC San Diego won at least in part by committing fewer errors, both on serves (4 to 6) and on attacks (18 to 30).
 
Ava McInnes and Zaria Henderson led the Tritons' attack, both finishing with 11 kills. McInnes also tallied 10 digs for her first double-double of the year. Izzi Strand also recorded a double-double, picking up 11 digs while facilitating the offense with 37 assists. Naya Dong led the Tritons in digs with 13.

TRITON TIDBITS

• Friday was UC San Diego's first ever match against Army
• Natalie Repetti was technically the Tritons' most efficient attacker, registering a kill on her only attack for a hitting percentage of 1.000. Grace Cannon was second, hitting .385 on 13 attempts
• With her 37 assists, Izzi Strand has already recorded over half her total from last season (68)
• Shara Da Silva, a transfer from Tyler Junior College, made her UC San Diego debut in the match, finishing with 6 kills, 4 blocks, and a pair of digs
• This is the first time the Tritons have won their season opener at the Division I level

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will wrap up play in the San Diego State Invitational with a pair of matches on Saturday, taking on Cal at 1:30 p.m. before facing off with the hosting Aztecs at 7 p.m. PT. The match against San Diego State will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network and live stats will be available for both games.

For live coverage links 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 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.