LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego women's volleyball earned its third straight sweep, defeating Cal State Bakersfield, 25-14, 25-17, 25-17, on Friday evening in LionTree Arena. With the win, the Tritons (16-9, 8-5 Big West) have guaranteed their best conference record in year three of Big West membership.
 
Ava McInnes led the Tritons with 13 kills, adding one block for a match-high 13.5 points. Lauren Brooker also tallied double-figure kills with with a career-high 11 and added 14 assists for her eighth double-double of the season. Jasmine Saran also tallied 13.5 points with nine kills, three aces and three blocks. 
 
Defensively, the Tritons were led by Brooker and Saran with three blocks apiece and Natalie Repetti collected a match-high 18 digs. Sabire Karacaova also tallied 10 digs in the contest and added two aces. Nevada Knowles led the team with 20 assists, adding six digs and one ace.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons took the early lead, 7-3, in set one before CSUB put together a 9-2 scoring run to take the lead, 12-8. UC San Diego rattled off four straight kills—two by Saran and one apiece from Katie Rapp and Karacaova—to pull back even midway through the set. With the Roadrunners on top, 14-12, Karacaova went back to the service line and led the Tritons on a monumental 13-point scoring run to close out the set, 25-14. 
 
UC San Diego carried the momentum into the second set, jumping out to an 8-4 advantage. The Roadrunners then scored five in a row to take the lead, 9-8. The Tritons responded quickly, outscoring CSUB 11-2 capped by back-to-back aces for Saran to build a comfortable lead late in set two, 20-12. The Roadrunners were unable to string more than two points together down the stretch and UC San Diego took the set, 25-17. 
 
The final set saw Cal State Bakersfield jump in front early, 7-4. A kill by McInnes and back-to-back kills for Emily McDaniel pulled the teams even at 7-all. The teams remained within one point up to a 12-12 tie before the Tritons put together another late run. UC San Diego outscored the Roadrunners, 14-6, down the stretch to close out the frame, 25-17, and secure its third consecutive sweep. 
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• With the win, the Tritons secured their best Big West record (8 wins) in three years of membership after collecting seven wins in both 2022 and 2021.
• Lauren Brooker collected her eighth double-double of the season and set a career high with 11 kills.
• Ava McInnes recorded double-figure kills for the 19th time this season.
• Jasmine Saran continues to be efficient, hitting .571 with nine kills on 14 swings and just one error. She has not committed more than three attack errors in her last 11 matches and currently ranks fourth overall in the Big West for hitting percentage (.312).
• The Tritons held the advantage in all statistical categories including aces (7-1), blocks (5-4), assists (41-28), digs (50-45) and kills (46-30). UC San Diego hit .324 as a team compared to .133 for CSUB.
• With the win, UC San Diego moved to 22-15 in the all-time series (4-2 in D-I) with Cal State Bakersfield.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will remain home in LionTree Arena to host CSUN on Saturday at 7 p.m. 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.