LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego women's volleyball fell to Long Beach State in straight sets, 19-25, 17-25, 23-25, on Tuesday evening in LionTree Arena. The Tritons (17-12, 9-8 Big West) wrapped up their home schedule against the Beach (19-8, 13-4 Big West), celebrating seniors Shara Da Silva and Natalie Repetti before the match.
 
Ava McInnes led the Tritons with 11 kills, while Lauren Brooker added seven. Brooker also led the team with three aces and added six assists. Jasmine Saran collected a team-high three blocks, while Repetti led the effort in the back court with 14 digs, adding six assists. Nevada Knowles recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 22 assists and 10 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Long Beach State took the early lead in set one, 11-4, before the Tritons put together 6-1 scoring run to pull within two points, 12-10. LBSU scored six unanswered to build back its commanding lead, 18-10. UC San Diego rallied again late in the set to pull back within three, 21-18, but the Beach closed out the set with a 4-1 run to take the opening set, 25-19.
 
The teams remained close to begin set two, trading points to a 8-7 Beach advantage early on. LBSU scored four unanswered to create distance, 12-7, before the Tritons battled back to within two, 14-12. The Long Beach State offense caught fire with an 8-1 scoring run—including seven kills by the Beach attackers—to put the set out of reach. LBSU took the second set, 25-17, and took a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
In the final set, the Tritons built an early advantage, 8-4, before the Beach outscored them 5-1 to pull even at 9-all. A string of five-points, including four straight aces, put Long Beach State in front, 14-11. UC San Diego answered with a 4-0 run of its own that included two solo blocks by Saran to jump back in front, 15-14. The teams battled to a 17-17 tie before three consecutive kills by McInnes and an ace by Brooker gave the Tritons some breathing room, 20-17. However, LBSU responded with a 6-1 scoring run of its own to pull back in front 23-21 and the teams traded side-outs to close out the set, 25-23, in favor of the Beach.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• UC San Diego recognized two seniors playing in their final home match in LionTree Arena—Shara Da Silva and Natalie Repetti.
• Nevada Knowles recorded her sixth double-double of the season.
• Long Beach State held the slight edge in aces (7-5), blocks (6-4) and assists (39-36), while the Tritons had the advantage in digs (47-43).
• UC San Diego hit .170 as a team compared to .284 for the Beach.
• With the loss, the Tritons moved to 0-6 in the all-time series with LBSU and 0-2 in the season series.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will wrap up its third season of Division I competition and the final season of the NCAA-mandated reclassifying period on Friday at Hawai'i. First serve is scheduled for 9 p.m. PT and the match 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.