LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego women's volleyball secured the program's first victory over UC Irvine with a 3-1 result on Saturday evening in LionTree Arena. The Tritons (13-9, 5-5 Big West) celebrated Homecoming Weekend by defeating the Anteaters (6-15, 4-6 Big West) in four sets, 25-22, 24-26, 25-17, 25-10.
Ava McInnes recorded her fifth double-double of the season, leading the Tritons in both kills (17) and digs (18) and added five blocks for 19.5 points.
Sabire Karacaova recorded her first double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs and
Lauren Brooker also recorded her seventh double-double with a career-high 10 kills, adding 23 assists.
Nevada Knowles led the team with 25 assists and finished one dig shy of a double-double with nine, while
Natalie Repetti added 12 digs for the Tritons.
Jasmine Saran had a standout match, leading the team in aces (3) and blocks (9) and adding nine kills while hitting .643.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After trailing, 4-1, early in the match, the Tritons quickly pulled even with UC Irvine, 4-4, and the teams remained knotted all the way to a 14-14 tie midway through the opening set. UC San Diego put together a 9-2 scoring run to finally create distance, 22-16. The Anteaters rallied late but the Tritons took the opening set, 25-22.
UC San Diego built an early 6-3 lead in set two before UCI battled back to pull even at 7-all. The Tritons put together an 8-1 scoring run to take the lead once again, 16-10. However, the Anteaters responded with a scoring run of their own, outscoring UC San Diego, 12-3, to gain the edge, 22-19. Facing set point, 24-21, the Tritons scored three consecutive points to pull the set even once again, 24-24. A kill and an ace by UCI closed out the set and evened the match at one set apiece.
The Tritons opened the third set with a 5-1 lead behind tough serving by Karacaova. The Anteaters answered to pull even at 8-all. The teams remained close up to a 15-13 Tritons' advantage before UC San Diego put together an 8-1 scoring run to build a commanding, 23-14, lead. The Tritons never looked back and took the third set, 25-17, and the match lead, 2-1.
UC San Diego carried the momentum into the final set, jumping out to a 6-0 lead with Karacaova at the service line once again. The Tritons put together another scoring run of seven consecutive points with Brooker at the line and built a commanding, 15-3, advantage. UC San Diego recorded a blazing .519 team hitting percentage in the final set, collecting 16 kills on 27 swings with just two errors to close out the set, 25-10, and the match, 3-1.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Trio of Tritons earn double-doubles: Lauren Brooker (seventh), Ava McInnes (fifth) and Sabire Karacaova (first).
- Jasmine Saran recorded a career-best nine blocks (2 solo) in the contest.
- Lauren Brooker set a career mark with 10 kills in the contest.
- UC San Diego held the advantage in all statistical categories including aces (7-3), blocks (15-7), kills (60-40), assists (55-38) and digs (59-48). The Tritons hit .252 as a team, while limiting UCI to a .096 team hitting percentage.
- With the win, the Tritons moved to 1-8 in the all-time series with UC Irvine.
NEXT UP
The Tritons will hit the road for a pair of matches next week, traveling to take on UC Davis on Oct. 26 and at UC Riverside on Oct. 28. The matches 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.
