ANNAPOLIS, Md.—UC San Diego women's volleyball defeated Cornell, 3-1, on Sunday morning to conclude the Kristen Dickmann Invitational.
 
The Tritons (5-1) defeated the Big Red (2-1), 25-18, 25-22, 17-25, 25-22 in Wesley A. Brown Field House.
 
For the second straight match, freshman Molly McCluskey led the team offensively with 16 kills and 18 points. Ava McInnes added 12 kills and Emily McDaniel chipped in 11. Freshman Audrey Hollis collected 44 assists, leading the Tritons to a .242 hitting percentage. UC San Diego tallied an impressive 13 service aces, led by Sabire Karacaova with four and Paulina Baillie and McInnes with three apiece.
 
Defensively, Jasmine Saran led the way once again with three blocks, while McInnes added two. McInnes led the team with 13 digs, while Baillie tallied 10 and McCluskey and Kayla Uhlick added eight apiece.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams remained knotted early to a 14-all tie, before Cornell put together a four-point run to take the lead. The Tritons responded with a 5-0 run of their own to jump in front, 19-17. UC San Diego outscored the Big Red, 11-1, to close out the first set behind a five-point serving run by Kylie Pries and a six-point serving run by Karacaova—including two aces—to take the opening frame, 25-18.
 
The Tritons carried the momentum into the second set, building a comfortable, 13-6, lead midway through the frame. Cornell continued to chip away at the advantage, closing to within two points, 21-19. A key kill by McCluskey closed out the set, 25-22, to give UC San Diego a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third set saw Cornell take the early lead, 11-4, behind five aces. A four-point run late in  the set pulled the Tritons closer, 21-16, but UC San Diego ran out of time with Cornell scoring the final three points to win, 25-17.
 
The Big Red picked up where they left off in the fourth set, taking an early 7-2 lead. A pair of aces and another from Karacaova highlighted a 10-3 run by the Tritons to take the lead, 12-10. UC San Diego extended its lead, 18-12, and looked to have the set in hand before Cornell rallied to pull even, 22-22. A pair of kills by McInnes and an attack error by Cornell gave the set to the Tritons, 25-22, and the match, 3-1.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Molly McCluskey, Emily McDaniel and Jasmine Saran were named to the all-tournament team with Saran earning tournament MVP.
• Freshman Molly McCluskey has recorded double-figure kills in all six matches this season, leading the Tritons offensively in five of six. 
• Freshman Audrey Hollis made her first collegiate start in the contest.
• With the win, the Tritons are now 1-0 in the all-time series with Cornell.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will remain on the road, playing a pair of matches in Harrisonburg, Va. as part of the Erie Insurance Invitational hosted by James Madison. The Tritons will take on JMU on Thursday at 3 p.m. PT and face Western Michigan in a neutral contest on Friday at 3 p.m. PT. Broadcast and live statistics information 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.