LOS ANGELES—UC San Diego women's volleyball fell in straight sets at Loyola Marymount on the second day of the Trojans/Lions Invitational.
 
The Tritons (6-4) dropped three sets to the Lions (7-3) by scores of 19-25, 20-25 and 20-25 on Friday evening in Gersten Pavilion. 
 
Ava McInnes led the Tritons with eight kills, while Kylie Pries and Jasmine Saran added six. Pries also recorded UC San Diego's only two aces in the contest. Lauren Brooker finished with 12 assists, while Audrey Hollis tallied seven. 
 
Defensively, middles Saran and Madison Johnson led the way at the net with three blocks each, while McInnes added two. Paulina Baillie collected eight digs, while McInnes, Pries and Sabire Karacaova finished with six apiece.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams kept things close to begin the opening frame, battling to a 5-6 LMU advantage. The Lions then put together an 8-1 scoring run to create distance, 14-6. Back-to-back blocks from McInnes and Hollis/Johnson, followed by a pair of kills for Saran and Pries sparked a five-point run by the Tritons to make it 11-14. However, UC San Diego was unable to pull even and LMU maintained a six-point advantage down the stretch and took the first set, 25-19.
 
Loyola Marymount carried the momentum into the second set, jumping out to a comfortable, 12-4, lead. Saran recorded a pair of kills and a block to give UC San Diego three straight points, 12-7, but the Lions extended their lead to 22-13. Sparked by back-to-back aces by Pries, the Tritons put together six-point scoring run to make it 22-19. The rally came a little to late for UC San Diego, however, and the Lions took the set, 25-20, and led the match, 2-0.
 
In the final set, LMU once again jumped out to an early lead, 10-4. The Tritons continued to battle and used a three-point run to make it 18-14 but were unable to pull closer. The teams traded points down the stretch and the Lions took the third set, 25-20, once again for the sweep.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• The Tritons held the slight edge in blocks (8-7) and digs (39-38), while the Lions had the advantage in kills (40-30), aces (7-2) and assists (35-27).
• UC San Diego is 3-1 in three-set matches. It was the first time the Tritons have been swept this season. 
• With the loss, the Tritons are now 1-8 in the all-time series (0-1 in D-I) with LMU.
• UC San Diego starters were Kylie Pries, Ava McInnes, Katie Rapp, Paulina Baillie, Audrey Hollis, Jasmine Saran and Madison Johnson.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will wrap up its non-conference schedule and face its first ranked opponent of the Division I era, facing No. 21 USC on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Galen Center. The match will be broadcast on B1G+ 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.