FULLERTON, Calif.—UC San Diego women's volleyball defeated Cal State Fullerton, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon in Titan Gym.
 
The Tritons (16-9, 10-4 Big West) moved into a tie for first place in the Big West and extended a five-match win streak, defeating the Titans (4-20, 0-14 Big West) by set scores of 25-17, 25-18, 20-25 and 25-14.
 
Ava McInnes and Emily McDaniel led the offense with 12 kills apiece, while Molly McCluskey chipped in 10 kills and tallied 10 digs for her second career double-double. Audrey Hollis totaled 39 assists and directed the offense to a .246 hitting percentage.
 
The Tritons tallied a season-high 14 aces in the contest, led by Kylie Pries with five, while Iris Canko tallied three and Paulina Baillie and Hollis added two each. McDaniel led the defensive effort at the net as well with three blocks, while Jasmine Saran added two. Baillie, Canko and Pries all collected a team-best 12 digs each.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego got out to a quick 5-1 advantage in set one, extending the lead 14-8 midway through the frame. The Titans closed to within three points, 14-11, but a back-to-back kill and ace by McCluskey stalled the CSUF momentum. Another kill followed by an ace for Pries gave the Tritons set point and UC San Diego took the opening frame easily, 25-17.
 
The teams remained close to begin the second set, battling to an 8-7 advantage for the Tritons. UC San Diego then went on a six-point scoring run, highlighted by two kills for McCluskey, two kills for McInnes and an ace by Pries to make it 14-7. The Tritons used a 5-1 scoring run to be the first to reach twenty, 20-12. The Titans rallied late with a four-point run to make it 22-18, but the Tritons closed out the set with the final three points with a Pries kill, a Titan error and a Pries ace to take the set, 25-18.
 
UC San Diego started the third set with an 8-6 advantage before Cal State Fullerton scored eight unanswered to take the lead, 13-8. With the Titans leading 19-13, the Tritons put together a five-point run, including two aces by Iris Canko to pull within one, 19-18. UC San Diego stayed within two points late, but CSUF scored the final three points to take the third set, 25-20 and extend the match.
 
The fourth set saw the Tritons jump out to an early, 11-4, lead behind tough serving from Canko and Baillie. A Hollis ace capped a three-point run to give UC San Diego a 14-5 lead midway through the frame. The Tritons outscored the Titans, 7-2, down the stretch to close out the set, 25-14, and the match, 3-1.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• With the win, UC San Diego is now tied for first place in the Big West with a 10-4 record. The Tritons matched UC Davis and Hawai'i with the same record.
• Molly McCluskey collected her second double-double of the season.
• Emily McDaniel is now two blocks away from moving into fifth place all-time with 338 career blocks.
• Ava McInnes is now 32 kills away from moving solely into first place all-time in the UC San Diego record books for career kills. She currently has 1,493 career kills with four regular season matches to go to reach the record of 1,524.
• UC San Diego is now 8-2 in four-set matches this season.
• With the win, the Tritons improve to 7-0 in the all-time series with Cal State Fullerton and 2-0 for the season series.
• UC San Diego starters were Kylie Pries, Ava McInnes, Molly McCluskey, Paulina Baillie, Audrey Hollis, Jasmine Saran and Emily McDaniel.

UP NEXT
In the penultimate week of the regular season, the Tritons will travel for a midweek matchup at Long Beach State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and face off with another first-place team in Hawai'i on Saturday at 10 p.m. PT. 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.