SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— Competing in the penultimate road match of the 2023 season, the UC San Diego Tritons women's volleyball team (17-11, 9-7 Big West) dropped a close, hard-fought match against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (25-3, 15-1) in five sets on Saturday evening.
Leading the way for UC San Diego throughout Saturday's contest was the stellar play from both
Ava McInnes and
Lauren Brooker, as McInnes tallied a team-high 18 kills while also totaling 12 digs and four blocks. Brooker pieced together a triple-double against a tough Gauchos' team as she posted 14 kills, 21 assists and 25 digs.
Getting the start against the Gauchos,
Sabire Karacaova had one of her strongest individual performances of the season with a career-high of 11 kills against the Big West conference leaders.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Saturday's match began with an epic back-and-forth first set that saw each team attempting to secure the momentum all the way until the final point.
Nevada Knowles got the game started with a strong serve to force a UCSB attack error for the match's first point. UC San Diego was able to take a late lead thanks to more stellar play from both McInnes and Brooker before the Gauchos won by a 28-26 score to take the early lead.
Staying in the fight after dropping the first set, the Tritons took an early 3-0 lead with
Sabire Karacaova delivering some impressive serves to throw the Gaucho defense off their rhythm. With the score tied at 17-all late in the set, UC San Diego came through with another 3-0 run thanks to more strong play from Brooker and McInnes as well as
Jasmine Saran forcing a UC Santa Barbara attack error. The Tritons were able to even the score and put the set to bed with a 25-22 final score on the Gauchos' second attack error of the set.
Building upon the momentum from a strong second set, Karacaova set the tone early as her serving helped orchestrate a 5-0 run from UC San Diego and helped push the score to 11-6 with a key kill later. In command throughout the later stages of the set and building a double-digit lead, Karacaova helped put the Tritons over the top following a great assist from Brooker as UC San Diego went up two sets to one with a 25-15 victory in the third.
Seeking to put the match away for good, the Tritons trailed 9-7 early in the set but were able to put together a 4-0 run to take the lead thanks to a McInnes kill and a terrific block assist from the Saran and Brooker duo. With the set tied at 25 and heading into extra points, the Gauchos notched two additional points late to even the match and take the fourth set by a 27-25 final.
Playing for all the marbles in the fifth and deciding set, the hometown Gauchos raced out to an early lead and didn't relinquish. A Karacaova kill off a great feed from
Natalie Repetti ended up being the final Tritons' tally on the night as UCSB won the fifth set 15-7 to take the match in five sets.
TRITON TIDBITS
- UC San Diego became the first team to push the Gauchos to five sets on their home floor, as the Big West standings leaders remain undefeated in Santa Barbara.
- Saturday night was a standout performance from Karacaova as she notched her second double-double of the season, while also contributing a career-high 11 kills against UCSB.
- After dropping their first four matches of conference play, UC San Diego has been on a roll through the middle and latter half of the season as they've lost just twice in their previous 11 matches.
- With only two matches remaining in the 2023 season, the Tritons have guaranteed themselves no worse than a .500 mark in Big West play and their first above .500 overall record at the Division I level.
UP NEXT
The Tritons will now return home for their final home match of the 2023 season, where they will host Long Beach State (18-7, 12-3 Big West) for Senior Night. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live statistics available on 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.
