UC San Diego

RIVERSIDE, Calif.—UC San Diego women's volleyball defeated California Baptist, 3-1, on Thursday evening in Fowler Events Center. In the first meeting between the teams as Big West opponents, the Tritons (6-8, 2-1 Big West) topped the Lancers (3-11, 0-3 Big West) by set scores of 25-8, 25-22, 25-27, 25-21. UC San Diego hit .277 as a team, while the Lancers were held to a .179 hitting percentage. The Tritons also registered 11 aces, compared to one for CBU.
 
Molly McCluskey and Ireland McNees led the team with 19 kills apiece, with McNees hitting .543 with zero errors on 35 swings and McCluskey hitting .447 with two errors on 38 swings. McCluskey registered a double-double with 10 digs and finished with a team-best 21.5 points, adding one ace and three blocks. Gia Rivera also finished in double figures with 12 kills. Marleena Catalan also recorded a double-double with 29 assists and 10 digs, while Paulina Baillie led the way with 16 digs and four service aces.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons came out red hot to start the contest, building a quick 8-0 lead behind three kills apiece from McCluskey and McNees and an ace from Ballie. UC San Diego continued to apply pressure midway through the set with a 6-1 scoring run, highlighted by two aces from Jaedyn Houston and back-to-back blocks from McCluskey/Barroso to lead 17-5. The Tritons outscored CBU 7-1 to close out the set, ending the set with an ace from McCluskey to take the opening frame, 25-8.
 
The Lancers flipped the script in the second set, taking an early 7-3 lead, but a pair of aces from Johnson closed the gap quickly, 8-7. CBU extended its lead back to four points before UC San Diego answered with another serving run, this time by Baillie. Back-to-back aces evened the score at 13-all. The Tritons took their first lead of the set with four consecutive kills—two for Johnson and one each for McCluskey and McNees—to make it 17-14. The teams kept things close down the stretch, with UC San Diego taking the second set, 25-22. 
 
Once again, the Lancers built an early 8-3 lead to open the third frame. The Tritons continued to battle but were unable to pull closer than two points until late in the set. After trailing, 18-14, UC San Diego put together a 5-1 scoring run to pull even at 19-19. The run was highlighted by kills from Rivera, McCluskey and McNees as well as two blocks from Barroso who was assisted on the second stop by Rivera. The teams traded points all the way to 25-25 before CBU notched the final two points, 27-25, to keep the match going.
 
The fourth set was a back-and-forth battle all the way to 14-14. UC San Diego created some  distance after a CBU service error and a service ace from Hayden Shanafelt. Back-to-back kills from McCluskey extended the Tritons' advantage, 18-15. UC San Diego continued its relentless attack down the stretch with three more kills from McCluskey and one each from McNees and Rivera in the closing points and Madison Johnson capped match point with a kill down the line to seal the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-1.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Molly McCluskey recorded her eighth double-double of the season and Marleena Catalan tallied her fifth.
• Molly McCluskey and Ireland McNees combined for 38 kills, with just two errors on 73 swings for a .493 hitting percentage between the two pin hitters.
• The Tritons had the advantage in kills (58-45), aces (11-1), digs (53-44) and hitting percentage (.277 to .179). CBU had the edge in blocks (11-6).
• UC San Diego matched its highest ace total this season, also recording 11 against Gonzaga (Aug. 30).
• The Tritons are 3-4 in four-set matches this season.
• UC San Diego is now 9-0 in the all-time series and 1-0 in Division I against California Baptist.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will remain in Riverside to face UC Riverside on Saturday at 4 p.m. The match 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.