LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego women's volleyball will spend its second weekend on the road, traveling for the Gonzaga Tournament in Spokane, Wash.
 
The Tritons (2-1) will play a double-header on Friday, taking on Air Force (2-1) at 10 a.m. (PT) and Idaho (1-2) at 3 p.m. On Saturday, UC San Diego will face the host Gonzaga (1-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday's match against Gonzaga will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available for all matches via UCSDTritons.com.
 
DETAILS
Match 4
(N) UC San Diego (2-1) vs Air Force (2-1)
Friday, Sept. 1 | 10 a.m.
Martin Centre (2,000) | Spokane, Wash.
All-time series: 2-3
Last meeting: 3-1 (Sept. 16, 2022)
Live Stats
 
Match 5
(N) UC San Diego vs Idaho (1-2)
Friday, Sept. 1 | 3 p.m.
Martin Centre (2,000) | Spokane, Wash.
All-time series: First meeting
Live Stats
 
Match 6
UC San Diego at Gonzaga (1-2)
Saturday, Sept. 2 | 6 p.m.
Martin Centre (2,000) | Spokane, Wash.
All-time series: First meeting
Watch | Live Stats
 
ABOUT THE TRITONS
Roster | Schedule | Stats
Overall: 2-1
Big West: 0-0
Home: 0-0
Away: 0-1
Neutral: 2-0
vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-0
Streak: L1
 

ABOUT AIR FORCE	ABOUT IDAHO	ABOUT GONZAGA
Roster | Schedule | Stats	Roster | Schedule | Stats	Roster | Schedule | Stats
Overall: 2-1	Overall: 1-2	Overall: 1-2
2022 Mountain West: 7-11	2022 Big Sky: 1-15	2022 WCC: 2-16
Home: 2-1	Home: 1-2	Home: 0-0
Away: 0-0	Away: 0-0	Away: 0-1
Neutral: 0-0	Neutral: 0-0	Neutral: 1-1
vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-0	vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-0	vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-0
Streak: L1	Streak: W1	Streak: W1

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will host the UC San Diego Invitational in La Jolla to open their home schedule next week, Sept. 7-9. UC San Diego will face San Diego State on Thursday at 6 p.m., take on Navy on Friday at 7 p.m. and wrap up the weekend against Denver on Saturday at 4 p.m. 
 
Saturday's game against Denver will be Youth Day in LionTree Arena and the first 150 kids will receive a UC San Diego water bottle. The Tritons will also host three neutral matches between the participating teams. All matches featuring the Tritons will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available for all matches via UCSDTritons.com.

LAST TIME OUT
The Tritons finished 2-1 in the opening weekend of the 2023 season at the Bulldog Brawl hosted by Butler. UC San Diego defeated Fresno State in the season opener, 3-1, and took down Kent State, 3-1, before falling to the home team Butler in five. Ava McInnes and Emily McDaniel were named to the all-tournament team.
 
UC San Diego 3, Fresno State 1
Set scores: 25-9, 25-23, 18-25, 25-23
Top performers: McInnes (18 kills, 2 aces); Brooker (7 kills, 11 assists, 10 digs, 5 blocks); McDaniel (10 blocks, 2 aces); Knowles (19 assists); Repetti (18 digs) 
 
UC San Diego 3, Kent State 1
Set scores: 25-15, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21
Top performers: McInnes (11 kills); McDaniel (10 kills, 8 blocks); Brooker (9 kills, 15 assists, 10 digs, 3 aces); Repetti (30 digs, 3 aces)
Notables: Repetti recorded career highs in digs and aces, Brooker finished one kill shy of the Tritons first triple-double of the Division I era
 
UC San Diego 2, Butler 3
Set scores: 25-8, 17-25, 25-20, 18-25, 13-15
Top performers: McInnes (17 kills, 3 aces, 3 blocks); McDaniel (9 kills, 7 blocks); Henderson (8 kills, 2 aces); Brooker (7 kills, 26 assists, 17 digs) Repetti (15 digs)
Notables: The Tritons led 10-4 in the deciding set before Butler rallied to take the set and the match. 
 
BROOKER, McDANIEL EARN BIG WEST WEEKLY HONORS
In week one of 2023, the Tritons received two of the Big West's weekly awards, with Lauren Brooker earning Freshman of the Week and Emily McDaniel earning Defensive Player of the Week. It marked the fourth and fifth weekly honors for the UC San Diego program since joining the conference in 2021.
 
Brooker finished just shy of a triple-double in each of her first three collegiate starts. The freshman setter/opposite averaged 1.77 kills, 4.00 assists and 2.85 digs, operating in a 6-2 offense for the Tritons.
 
McDaniel averaged nearly two blocks per set (1.92) to dominate at the net for UC San Diego. The middle blocker was named to the Bulldog Brawl All-Tournament Team after recording 25 total blocks and 24 kills to collect 40.0 points over the weekend.
 
AWARD WINNERS
Big West Defensive Player of the Week: Emily McDaniel (Aug. 28)
Big West Freshman of the Week: Lauren Brooker (Aug. 28)
Bulldog Brawl All-Tournament Team: Ava McInnes, Emily McDaniel (Aug. 26)
 
McINNES CHASING RECORDS
Junior outside hitter Ava McInnes had a standout season in 2022, leading The Big West in both kills (3.81 k/s) and points (4.35 p/s). McInnes set the Tritons' Division I season record for kills with 469, which also ranks second in the all-time record book. She also set the all-time season record for attacks with 1,374 and tied the all-time single match kills record with 31 against Long Beach State (Oct. 14, 2022).
 
In her third season of competition, McInnes has 874 career kills and 2,611 attack attempts. She is 24 kills away from breaking into the top 10 all-time career kills records and ranks No. 10 all-time in attack attempts—58 away from moving into ninth.
 
STACKING UP AGAINST THE BIG WEST
With one week of competition in the books, the Tritons rank first in team blocks (3.04 per set), second in aces (2.08 per set) and opponent hitting percentage (.113) and third in digs (14.77 per set).
 
Emily McDaniel ranks first in blocks (1.92 per set), Ava McInnes ranks second in points (4.46 per set) and fourth in kills (3.54 per set) and Natalie Repetti ranks fourth in digs (4.85 per set). 
 
TOUGH DEFENSE
The Tritons averaged 2.17 blocks per set in 2022 and ranked fourth in the Big West with 271.0 total blocks. Middle blockers Shara Da Silva and Emily McDaniel led the way at the net for UC San Diego's defense. Da Silva ranked sixth in the conference with 1.03 blocks per set and McDaniel averaged 0.81 blocks per set, ranking 17th.
 
EXPERIENCED ROSTER
UC San Diego returns 12 Tritons who saw playing time during the 2022 season, including All-Big West Second Team honoree Ava McInnes. The senior class consists of Shara Da Silva who started 30 matches at middle blocker in 2022 and Natalie Repetti who appeared in 29 matches as a defensive substitution. The junior class includes outside hitters Ava McInnes and Zaria Henderson who both started all 32 matches for the Tritons. They are joined by Juliette Bokor, Sabire Karacaova, Nevada Knowles (transfer), Emily McDaniel and Izabella Santa Cruz. The sophomore class consists of Dana Branavets (transfer), Reagan Dryden, Katie Rapp, Aubrey Tanner, Kayla Uhlick and Jasmine Saran.
 
FRESH FACES
The Tritons added five talented newcomers to the 2023 roster, including three freshmen, a sophomore transfer and junior college transfer. The Tritons will welcome first-year scholar-athletes Lauren Brooker (Calabasas, Calif.), Iris Canko (Temecula, Calif.) and Reagan McWhinney (Loveland, Colo.), as well as sophomore transfer Dana Branavets (San Diego, Calif.) from Boise State and junior transfer Nevada Knowles (Ventura, Calif.) from Ventura College.
 
TRITONS PICKED SEVENTH IN PRESEASON POLL
UC San Diego was picked to finish seventh with 42 points in The Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll. 2022 Big West Champion Hawai'i was picked to finish first with 100 points and 10 first-place votes, followed by UC Santa Barbara (83 points) and Long Beach State (82 points, 1 first-place vote) rounding out the top three.
 
Cal Poly (81) was picked fourth and UC Davis (61) was voted fifth, followed by UC Irvine (54), UC San Diego (42), Cal State Bakersfield (33), Cal State Fullerton (32), CSUN (27) and UC Riverside (10).
 
WINNING IN THE CLASSROOM
Juliette Bokor, Emily McDaniel, Ava McInnes and Natalie Repetti were four of the seven women's volleyball scholar-athletes named to the Big West All-Academic team for the 2022 fall season. Additionally, McDaniel was named to the 2022 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team.
 
WELCOME TO LIONTREE ARENA
Since it was established nearly three decades ago, the University of California San Diego's RIMAC (Recreation, Intramural and Athletic Complex) Arena has been home to countless athletic competitions, graduations, concerts and other events that are imprinted on the memories of thousands of UC San Diego alumni, students, friends and visitors.
 
In June of 2022, UC San Diego announced that RIMAC Arena has been named LionTree Arena in recognition of a $5 million gift for scholar-athletes from LionTree, an independent investment and merchant bank with expertise in technology, media and the digital economy. LionTree was founded by UC San Diego alumnus Aryeh B. Bourkoff, who also serves as the firm's CEO. LionTree's gift is the largest ever received by UC San Diego Athletics, establishing the LionTree Endowed Scholarship Fund to support scholar-athletes.
 
ON THE MOVE
After 20 seasons playing as an NCAA Division II team, the entire athletics program has begun a four-year transition to NCAA Division I, culminating in full DI status as a member of the Big West Conference for the 2024-25 academic year. At that time, all sports will be eligible for conference and NCAA postseason play.
 
WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.
 
UC SAN DIEGO ON THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
Most UC San Diego home men's and women's basketball games, men's and women's soccer matches, men's and women's volleyball matches, baseball and softball games are broadcast live on ESPN+. For more information on where to watch UC San Diego women's volleyball, visit UCSDTritons.com/live.
 
GAME DAY GOES DIGITAL
Triton fans now have a whole new way to access game day information, as game programs have gone digital! Fans can visit UCSDTritons.com from their smart phone or scan the QR code at the entrance to LionTree Arena for everything they need to know about each home game, including updated rosters, schedules, and stats for each team, as well as links to watch on ESPN+.
 
COVERING THE TRITONS
Media members wishing to cover a UC San Diego game in-person at LionTree Arena must notify a member of the Athletics Communication staff no later than 24 hours prior to the game. 
 
Following the conclusion of each home game, a video highlight melt and video postgame interviews will be made available for media members to download.
 
GET SOCIAL WITH UC SAN DIEGO WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through Twitter and Instagram. The team's handle is @ucsdwvb.
 
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!
 
GEAR
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories, click here.
 
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.