LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego women's volleyball fell to UC Davis, 3-1, on Saturday evening in LionTree Arena. The Tritons (11-8, 3-4 Big West) dropped a hard-fought battle to the Aggies (9-8, 4-3 Big West) by set scores of 18-25, 18-25, 25-22, 22-25. 
 
Ava McInnes led the offense with 15 kills, while Jasmine Saran tallied eight and Reagan Dryden chipped in seven. Juliette Bokor collected a team-best four blocks for the second match in a row, while Saran and McInnes added three and two blocks respectively. Lauren Brooker led the Tritons with 21 assists and 10 digs for her fifth double-double, while Natalie Repetti collected nine. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams traded points early to a 6-6 tie in set one, before the Aggies put together a four-point scoring run to take the lead. UC San Diego countered with three points of its own, but UCD responded with another 4-0 run to lead 15-10 midway through the set. UC Davis extended its lead with a 6-1 scoring run down the stretch and took the opening set, 25-18.
 
The Aggies carried the momentum into the second set, opening with a five-point scoring run. After taking an early timeout, the Tritons rattled off four consecutive points, including back-to-back aces from freshman Reagan McWhinney to pull within one. The teams remained close to an 11-10 UC Davis advantage before the Aggies pulled away with a 6-1 run to make it 17-11 and never looked back. UCD took the second set by the same score and led the match, 2-0.
 
It looked as if UC Davis was primed to complete the sweep after taking a 7-2 lead to open the third frame, but the Tritons would not go quietly. UC San Diego battled back with the help of Dryden providing a spark off the bench and the Tritons eventually pulled even at 10-all. The teams stayed within one point up to an 18-17 Triton advantage before UC Davis strung together three quick points to create space. UC San Diego responded with a four-point run of its own to retake the lead, 22-20. UC Davis pulled even one more time at 22-all before the Tritons closed out the set two kills from McInnes and an Aggie error to take the third frame, 25-22.
 
It was more of the same in the fourth set with neither team leading by more than two points early on and the teams remaining knotted as late as 18-all. UC Davis put together a mini three-point run pull away late, but the Tritons battled back to within one, 21-22. The teams traded points again before the Aggies closed out the frame with two consecutive points to take the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-1.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Lauren Brooker recorded her fifth double-double of the season, leading the Tritons in both assists (21) and digs (10).
• UC Davis held the slight edge in aces (8-6), blocks (12-8) and digs (46-38). 
• With the loss, the Tritons moved to 12-10 (1-4 in D-I) in the all-time series with UC Davis.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will hit the road to take on Cal State Fullerton on Thursday at 6 p.m. before returning to LionTree Arena to host UC Irvine in the Tritons' homecoming match on Saturday at 7 p.m. Both matched 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 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.