SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.—UC San Diego women's volleyball earned the victory over the Big West second-place team Cal Poly, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon in Mott Athletics Center.
The Tritons (12-9, 6-4 Big West) topped the Mustangs (14-7, 7-3 Big West) in four sets by scores of 25-23, 16-25, 25-21and 25-19 to earn the program's first victory over Cal Poly.
Four Tritons finished with double-figure kills, led by
Ava McInnes with 13 kills and
Molly McCluskey with 12. Middles
Emily McDaniel and
Jasmine Saran chipped in 10 kills apiece and
Kylie Pries added nine.
Audrey Hollis finished with 46 assists and 10 digs for her seventh double-double.
McCluskey led the defensive charge at the net with five blocks, while McDaniel and Saran added four each.
Iris Canko matched Hollis for the team lead in the back court with 10 digs, while
Paulina Baillie and McCluskey both added eight digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams remained close to start the opening set, battling to a 9-9 tie. Cal Poly then went on a 9-3 run to lead 18-12. The Mustangs maintained a five-point advantage all the way to 21-16 before the Tritons began to turn the momentum. UC San Diego used an ace by Baillie and a pair of timely kills by Pries to pull even 21-all. The Tritons continued to apply pressure down the stretch and took the opening set, 25-23. UC San Diego outscored CP 9-2 to close out the frame.
Cal Poly came out hot to start the second set, building a commanding 14-5 lead midway through the frame. The Tritons used a 5-1 scoring run to close the gap, 16-11, but the Mustangs took the second set handily, 25-16.
The teams battled to an 11-11 tie to start set three. Back-to-back kills by McInnes and a Cal Poly error gave the Tritons a 14-11 advantage. The Mustangs closed to within one point before UC San Diego put together another three-point run to create distance once again, 18-14. A pair of kills for Saran and one by McCluskey gave the Tritons a 22-17 advantage. The teams continued to side out down the stretch and UC San Diego took the set, 25-21, and led the match, 2-1.
Cal Poly took the early 9-6 advantage in set four and extended its lead 14-8 midway through the frame. A pair of timely blocks by Saran/McInnes and Saran/McCluskey sparked a 6-1 run by the Tritons to pull within one point, 15-14. UC San Diego took the lead behind a four-point service run by
Sabire Karacaova to make it, 18-17, Tritons. Another six-point run with Canko at the service line gave the Tritons match point, 24-18. UC San Diego outscored the Mustangs, 11-2, down the stretch to take the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-1.
TRITON TIDBITS
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will host a pair of matches next week in LionTree Arena, taking on UC Davis on Friday and UC Riverside on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 6 p.m. The matches will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be 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.
