UC San Diego

HONOLULU—UC San Diego women's volleyball dropped a five-set battle to Utah Tech, 3-2, on Friday evening in Stan Sheriff Center. The Tritons (2-3) nearly pulled off a reverse sweep in their second match of the Outrigger Invitational, falling to the Trailblazers (3-2) by set scores of 19-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-22 and 13-15.
 
Ireland McNees recorded a team-high 21 kills and 22 points, adding nine digs. Molly McCluskey also scored 22 points, finishing with 18 kills on .457 hitting, 10 digs and four block assists. Gia Rivera also tallied double-digit kills with 13. Paulina Baillie collected a team-high 15 digs and added four assists, while Dillyn Griffin collected 11. Lucia Barroso posted seven block assists with six kills and two service aces. Marleena Catalan and Brynne McGhie recorded 23 and 21 assists respectively, with McGhie also tallying 12 digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons opened the first set with a 6-1 lead, getting two early blocks involving Barroso and McCluskey along with a McCluskey ace and McNees kills. The Trailblazers pulled even at 10-10, and the Tritons briefly went back ahead 16-15 on a Rivera kill from Baillie. The Trailblazers outscored UC San Diego, 9-2, down the stretch to finish the set with the late edge, taking it 25-19.
 
UC San Diego began the second set with four straight points on Griffin's serve, getting a Griffin ace along with kills from McNees and McCluskey for a 4-0 lead. The Trailblazers later led 16-8, and the Tritons' late block points from Rivera and Yasemin Elmas, then Elmas and Madison Johnson, helped narrow the score to 23-18. However, the Trailblazers closed out the set, 25-20, to lead the match, 2-0.
 
Once again, the Tritons built an early lead in the third set with an efficient attack, tallying six quick kills to lead, 8-4. UC San Diego created separation by stretching a 16-11 lead to 19-11 on a McNees kill, a McCluskey service ace and a Catalan/Barroso block. The Tritons closed the third set by stopping the Trailblazers' late three-point run at 23-19, getting a McCluskey kill before McNees finished the 25-19 set.
 
The teams kept things close in the fourth set, battling to a 11-11 tie. After a Barroso kill put the Tritons ahead 12-11, Catalan served two aces during a four-point run that pushed the lead to 16-11. Utah Tech moved within 22-21 late, but Johnson answered with a kill, and Barroso and Rivera combined on a block to bring up set point. The Tritons closed the set 25-22 on a Trailblazers attack error to force a fifth set.
 
After falling behind, 5-1, the Tritons fought back late in the fifth set, with McCluskey and McNees kills tying it at 13-13. McCluskey also had kills at 8-11 and 11-12 and teamed with Barroso on a block during the push. The Trailblazers answered with the final two points to take the set, 15-13, and the match, 3-2.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Molly McCluskey and Brynne McGhie both recorded their third double-double of the season.
• Ireland McNees recorded career highs in points (22) and kills (21).
• Freshman Gia Rivera recorded her first double-figure effort with 13 kills.
• Marleena Catalan matched her career high with 23 assists in her first appearance of the season.
• It was the first five-set match of the season for the Tritons.
• UC San Diego is now 0-1 in the all-time series with Utah Tech.

 
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will have a day off before their final match of the Outrigger Invitational, facing the host Hawai'i on Sunday at 8 p.m. PT. The match will be streamed for subscribers on Mountain West+ and live statistics will be available for 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.