DENVER– UC San Diego women's volleyball wrapped up the Thin Air Challenge with a 3-0 loss to Denver on Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Gymnasium.
It was the first sweep suffered by the Tritons this season, after a strong 7-5 showing in non-conference competition. With the win, the Pioneers improved to 6-5 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After the Tritons dropped a marathon first set 26-28, the Pioneers took the next two sets 16-25, 22-25 for the sweep. UC San Diego hit .123 as a team—their lowest hitting percentage of the season—primarily due to a -.083 percentage in the second set. Denver came out on top in blocks 12-6 and digs 46-43, while the Tritons held the slight advantage 4-3 in aces.
Ava McInnes and
Zaria Henderson both finished with 11 kills, and finished with six digs and seven digs respectively.
Juliette Bokor and
Shara Da Silva tallied two blocks apiece and
Naya Dong led the team with 10 digs.
Izzi Strand finished with 17 assists, while
Aubrey Tanner added nine.
The first set was a tightly contested battle, with neither team leading by more than three points. UC San Diego earned the first set point at 24-23, but back-to-back points swung the advantage in favor of the Pioneers. The Tritons fought off two set points before Denver ultimately took the opening frame, 28-26.
After keeping things close to begin set two, Denver went on a 6-0 run to lead 17-10 and never looked back. The Pioneers closed out the second set with another four-point run to win, 26-16, and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Tritons bounced back in set three, trading points to a 15-15 tie midway through the final frame. A four-point run gave the Pioneers the advantage, but UC San Diego would not give up. After a 6-2 scoring run by the Tritons tied the set at 22-all, it looked as if UC San Diego would force a fourth set. However, Denver rattled off three-straight points to close out the game and secure the sweep.
TRITON TIDBITS
- It was the first time the Tritons were swept this season.
- The 28-26 first set score was the third time over the weekend that the game was pushed to extra points. The Tritons came out 2-1 in those sets.
- Nine of the 12 sets UC San Diego played over the weekend were decided by three points or fewer. The Tritons finished 5-4 in those sets.
- Outside Ava McInnes led the Tritons in kills in nine of their 12 non-conference matches, averaging 3.73 kills per set.
- Shara Da Silva currently ranks third in the Big West with 1.28 blocks per set.
- It was the first all-time meeting between the two programs.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will return to LionTree Arena to open up its Big West schedule, playing host to UC Santa Barbara on Friday at 7 p.m. PT and CSUN on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. The matches 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.
