EL PASO, Texas—UC San Diego women's volleyball fell to UTEP, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Gym. The Tritons (2-6) were bested by the Miners (7-1) by set scores of 19-25, 21-25, 25-22 and 20-25 in the second match of the Borderland Classic.
Molly McCluskey led the Tritons with 14 kills and 15.0 points, adding six digs and two blocks.
Gia Rivera finished with 13 kills and five digs, while
Katelyn Hernandez chipped in 11 kills and two blocks.
Marleena Catalan recorded 26 assists, eight digs and one service ace, while
Maija Nepszy chipped in 17 assists.
Paulina Baillie collected a team-high 15 digs and added four assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams kept things close to begin the contest, trading serves for much of the first set to a 10-10 tie. McCluskey and Rivera supplied multiple kills to keep the set close early on. The Tritons were within 20-18 after back-to-back kills by
Ireland McNees and McCluskey, but the Miners scored five of the next six points to take the opening set 25-19.
The Tritons erased a 9-6 deficit in the second set, getting kills from McCluskey and Hernandez around a Miners attack error to move in front 10-9. Hernandez added another kill to put the Tritons up 11-10, but the set stayed tight until the Miners scored four straight late to reach 24-19. The Tritons answered with kills by Hernandez and Rivera before the Miners finished the set 25-21.
The third set saw UC San Diego jump out in front 4-0 behind tough serving from Baillie and two kills from Hernandez. UTEP worked to tie the set 6-6 and kept things close before
Dillyn Griffin's serve helped the Tritons score four straight points from 10-8 to 14-8, including a Hernandez block and a
Kaliya Ndiaye kill. The Miners responded with an 8-1 run to take the lead 17-16 and the set remained close down the stretch. The Tritons answered the Miners' 21-20 edge by taking four of the next five points and finishing the third set 25-22.
The teams remained close to begin the fourth set, but with UC San Diego trailing 8-10, UTEP went on a 6-1 scoring run to create distance. The Tritons' clearest push in the fourth set came with Catalan serving, as they scored four straight points from 21-14 to 21-18 on kills by Ndiaye and McNees and two Miners attack errors. The Miners answered with three straight points to reach 24-18 before a service error and a McCluskey/Ndiaye block gave the Tritons two more points. The Miners finished the set 25-20 to take the match, 3-1.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Molly McCluskey led the offense for the fifth time this season.
- The Tritons held the advantage in digs (47), but the Miners had the edge in blocks (12-5) and aces (7-3).
- UC San Diego is now 0-1 in the all-time series with UTEP.
UP NEXT
The Tritons will wrap up the weekend at the Borderland Classic with a neutral match against Pacific on Sunday at 10 a.m. PT in El Paso. 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.
