LA JOLLA, Calif.– UC San Diego women's volleyball suffered a tough five-set loss to UC Santa Barbara to open its Big West schedule on Friday evening in front of a record-setting 1,953 fans in LionTree Arena.
 
The Tritons (7-6, 0-1 Big West) battled the Gauchos (5-6, 1-0 Big West) down to the wire, falling 20-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 4-15. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams were fairly evenly matched offensively, with UCSB holding the slight edge in hitting percentage .258 to .209. The Gauchos also won the battle at the net, tallying 13 blocks compared to 11 for the Tritons. UC San Diego tallied two aces, compared to seven for UCSB and both teams finished with 67 digs.
 
Ava McInnes led the way offensively with 17 kills, while Zaria Henderson notched her fifth double-double of the season. Henderson finished the night with 16 kills and 15 digs, adding two aces and one solo block for a team-best 19.0 points. Izzi Strand also recorded a double-double—her seventh—with 40 assists and 11 digs, adding three block assists.
 
In the opening set, the teams traded the lead back-and-forth early to a 14-14 tie midway through the frame. UCSB then put together a three-point run to gain a little separation and held on for the opening-set victory, 25-20.
 
The Tritons answered immediately in the second set, recording their best hitting percentage of the match at a .344 clip and jumping out to an early 8-3 lead. UC Santa Barbara tied things up at 15-all, but the Tritons continued to battle and eventually took the second set, 25-22.
 
The third set saw the Gauchos hitting at an impressive .471 clip, with teams keeping things tight again to a 18-18 tie. UCSB used a 5-1 run to create distance and never looked back, taking the set, 25-21, and the 2-1 lead in the match.
 
In the fourth, the Tritons were hot to start once again, putting together an early 6-2 lead. However, the Gauchos responded with a six-point run of their own to take the lead, 8-6. UC San Diego would not give up, outscoring UCSB, 8-3, down the stretch to take the set, 25-18, and force a deciding fifth set.
 
It was all UC Santa Barbara in the final frame however, as the Gauchos used an eight-point serving run to effectively secure the victory. The UCSB defense tallied 14 digs and two team blocks to hold the Tritons to a -.174 hitting percentage and took the final set, 15-4. 
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• The 1,953 attendance is the highest recorded at a UC San Diego women's volleyball match. The second highest, coming on Sept. 27, 2002 against Cal Poly Pomona (1,327).
  • It is the third-highest recorded attendance—excluding men's basketball—in the history UC San Diego Athletics. 
• This marked the sixth time the Tritons have gone the distance this season. UC San Diego currently holds a 2-4 record in five-set matches.
• Outside Ava McInnes has led the Tritons in kills in 10 of their 13 matches this season, averaging 3.70 kills per set.
• With the loss, the Tritons fall to 0-6 in the all-time meeting with UC Santa Barbara and 0-1 this season.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will remain home to play host to CSUN on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT in LionTree Arena. 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.