What a long, strange road it has been for the UCSD women’s volleyball team. After being on the road for four of the last five weekends, the Tritons split matches in their final road trip of the year.
UCSD, which brought its record to 11-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and 16-6 overall, swept Cal State Dominguez Hills on Oct. 26 at the Torodome before losing to Cal State Los Angeles 3-1 the next night.
The Tritons dominated Friday night’s match from start to finish, winning 30-15, 31-29 and 30-13, respectively. UCSD held the Toros to only 30 kills and a .086 hitting percentage while compiling 50 kills on a .274 hitting clip.
Kathleen Hentz led the way for the Tritons with a match-high 16 kills. Teresa Ohta had a match-high 40 assists to go along with a team-high 11 digs. Lauren Mills and Katie Hogan each added eight kills in the winning effort.
CSU Dominguez Hills, which fell to 2-14 in the CCAA and 2-20 overall with the loss, was led by Keesha Aldridge’s 10 kills. Amanda Horn had a team-high 27 assists while Michelle Clary had 13 digs.
Following the dominating victory in Carson, UCSD traveled to Los Angeles to battle the Golden Eagles at the Eagle’s Nest.
Cal State Los Angeles, which improved to 12-5 in the CCAA and 14-10 overall with the win, got off to an early start and finished strong to take the important CCAA match.
The Golden Eagles outhit the Tritons en route to a 30-22 victory in the opening game. CSU Los Angeles took advantage of 10 UCSD hitting errors in the second game to win 30-25 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Tritons battled back for a 30-22 win in the third game before the Golden Eagles closed out the match with a 30-23 victory in the fourth game.
Brenda Edwards led Cal State Los Angeles with a match-high 21 kills and an impressive .516 hitting percentage. Kristy Sain added a match-high 46 assists in the winning effort.
Mills and Hentz each had 11 kills for UCSD in the loss. Mills added a match-high 15 digs. Jessica Bartter managed 25 assists in two games as the setter. Ohta had 13 assists in three games for the team.
The Tritons will host Grand Canyon University on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. in their next conference match.
