THIBODAUX, La. – UC San Diego women's volleyball notched its second sweep of the weekend with a 3-0 victory over Southern on Saturday morning at Stopher Gym. 
 
The Tritons improved to 5-1, their best start to the season since 2017, while Southern fell to 0-6. With the win, the Tritons closed out the Colonel Classic with a perfect 3-0 record on the weekend.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego made quick work of the Jaguars, sweeping them in straight sets 25-15, 25-8, 25-14. The Tritons recorded a blazing .434 hitting percentage, while limiting SU to just .013. UC San Diego held the advantage in all statistical categories, including kills (43-20), aces (5-3), blocks (7-3), assists (38-18) and digs (34-22). 
 
Freshman Jasmine Saran officially established herself as the new Triton to be reckoned with, leading all hitters with nine kills and all blockers with seven stops. Freshman setter Aubrey Tanner also saw her first significant playing time of her collegiate career, tallying a match-high 17 assists and adding three blocks and one ace. Naya Dong continued her strong back-court performance, collecting 15 digs. 
 
UC San Diego used a 6-1 run to jump out to an 11-5 lead early in the first set. Southern cut the Tritons' lead to three before a 4-0 run gave UC San Diego a 16-9 lead. The Tritons close out the first set with five-consecutive points to take opening frame.
 
The teams were knotted 4-all to begin the second set before the UC San Diego offense exploded for a 10-point run—including eight kills—to take a commanding 14-4 lead. The Tritons continued to have a hot hand, closing out the set on a 9-1 run to take the set, 25-8, and lead the match 2-0.
 
UC San Diego carried the momentum into the third frame, jumping out to an 8-1 lead to start the set. Leading 13-5, the Tritons used another five-point run to extend their lead and closed out the final set, 25-14, to complete the sweep.

QUOTABLE
"It was great to finish off the weekend with a win," said UC San Diego head coach Ricci Luyties. "We had a chance to get some players quality time who haven't been on the court. I felt like everyone made the most of their opportunity. I know from our practices that they're all pushing each other to be better because the competition for starting spots is so close. Now I've seen them perform in a game situation and they've confirmed it. It's nice to know we have players to go to if we need them."
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Ava McInnes, Izzi Strand and Shara Da Silva were named to the Colonel Classic All-Tournament Team.
• The Tritons topped their .325 hitting percentage from Friday with a .434 clip, their best since Oct. 15, 2004 against at Cal State L.A. (.442) and their best of the Division I era. It is the first time UC San Diego has hit over .400 since Oct. 10, 2008 against Sonoma State (.408).
• UC San Diego's 5-1 record is its best start to the season since going 6-1 to begin the 2017 campaign. It also places the Tritons at the top of the Big West standings with the best record in the conference.
• It was the first meeting between UC San Diego and Southern.

UP NEXT
The Tritons will return to La Jolla for their home opener, hosting the UC San Diego Invitational at LionTree Arena. The Tritons will face Liberty in the early match on Friday at 10 a.m. and host New Mexico in the evening match at 6:30 p.m. UC San Diego will wrap up the weekend on Saturday against Pacific at 2 p.m. Additionally, three other neutral contests will be played throughout the weekend. 
 
UC San Diego's matches will be broadcast on ESPN+ and all neutral games will have a free livestream on UCSDTritons.com. Live statistics will be available for all games 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.