The top-ranked UCSD women’s volleyball team finally encountered a team running even hotter than it was. After sweeping winless Cal State Stanislaus for their sixth consecutive victory, the Tritons fell victim to a red-hot Cal State Bakersfield squad that stretched its winning streak to seven. UCSD is now 17-3 overall and its 11-2 mark in the California Collegiate Athletic Association puts the Tritons one game behind Cal State San Bernardino in the conference standings. Barry University and Cal State San Bernardino are the leading candidates to replace the Tritons in the No. 1 position when the next national poll results come out Oct. 21.
Run over: After easily sweeping Cal State Stanislaus, the Tritons lost to the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners, snapping UCSD¹s six-game winning streak.
The Tritons showed no sign of problems on Oct. 16, since they defeated Cal State Stanislaus, 30-17, 30-26 and 30-20. Middle blocker Kendra Canape and outside hitter Stacy Dunsmore posted 13 kills and 12 digs apiece to share match-high honors in kills with the Warriors’ Jackie Coudert. Setter Teresa Ohta led UCSD with 14 digs, while adding 44 assists and guiding the offense to a .277 hitting percentage on the night. UCSD limited the Warriors to a .127 attacking percentage by putting up 65 digs on the evening and 10 total blocks, highlighted by Canape’s three solo blocks.
The Tritons then traveled south to take on the Roadrunners of Cal State Bakersfield. Led by reigning CCAA Player of the Week Jessica Slayton, the Roadrunners were prepared to play. After the Tritons opened the match with a 30-20 win, the Roadrunners roared back.
After hitting just .116 in the first game, Cal State Bakersfield hit .250 while UCSD dropped from the .395 mark it established in the first game to an anemic .038 in game two. The difference was more than enough to propel the Roadrunners to a 30-20 victory of their own, and to level the match at one game apiece. Complacency may have been an issue for the Tritons after the first game.
“”I think we just kind of relaxed,”” Canape said. “”[We thought] ŒIt’s going to be like every other match we’ve played this year. We’re going to kill them in three and go home.'””
The Tritons bounced back in game three, putting up 15 kills and putting the pressure on the Roadrunners, but in the end, UCSD’s 10 hitting errors in the game were too much to overcome and Cal State Bakersfield prevailed 30-27 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Mistakes were common throughout the match.
“”We had too many unforced errors and they really didn’t have any,”” Canape said.
Even in game four it looked as if UCSD might turn the match around as the Tritons sprung out to a 9-4 lead, but strong serving pushed the Roadrunners to a 9-1 run and a lead they would not give back. Game four went to the home side by a 30-23 score and gave the Roadrunners the 3-1 victory in the match.
The Roadrunners had 10 aces and eight serving errors, while the Tritons managed just three aces with 12 service errors. UCSD head coach Duncan McFarland credited his opponents’ serving for disrupting the Triton offense.
“”They had a phenomenal serving match where it seemed like all of their serves were bullets right at us,”” McFarland said.
That serving was undoubtedly a factor in a passing performance the Tritons would prefer to forget.
“”There was no way we could run an effective offensive because our passing was just bad news,”” Canape said.
There were still a few bright spots for the Tritons, as they established a new season-high in blocks with 16, led by middle blocker Katie Hogan’s four solo blocks and three block assists. Outside hitter Lindsay Crandell had a strong match for UCSD, leading the team in both kills and digs with 15 in each category. Despite those areas, the tone of the trip back was fairly predictable.
“”The three-hour drive home was a pretty bad one,”” Canape said.
The Tritons will have scant time before their Oct. 22 conference match at Cal State Los Angeles. However, McFarland knows that his team must fight through this difficult time of year.
“”It was a tough road trip. We’ve been on the road quite a bit the last couple weeks, and I know our players have been stressed about missing so much class,”” he said. “”We can’t worry about being lucky or unlucky with the schedule. We just have to go out and play the matches we have and do the best that we can.””
