School has yet to start, but the members of the UCSD women’s volleyball team have been keeping busy enough. The No. 12 Tritons have already played in the Cal State Dominguez Hills Tournament and the Cal State San Bernardino Tournament as well as home games against Grand Canyon and Cal State Monterey Bay. Now, less than a month into the season, the Tritons have played 21 games and are off to a good start with a 10-2 record overall and a 2-1 mark in league play.
The Tritons began the season with three straight wins in the Cal State Dominguez Hills Tournament over Bridgepoint, Point Loma Nazarene and Concordia. UCSD then came home to play Point Loma and came away with a win before heading to the Cal State San Bernardino Tournament with a 4-0 record.
At their second tourney in a week, the Tritons beat unranked St. Martins and Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 2 and Sept. 3, respectively, and beat No. 16 Northwood in straight sets on Sept. 3. However, the Tritons also took their first loss of the season at the tournament, falling in straight sets to No. 8 Hawaii Pacific on Sept. 2.
Following their impressive showing in the Cal State San Bernardino Tournament, the Tritons returned home for a Sept. 8 win over Grand Canyon. Toting an 8-1 record, the Tritons then returned to San Bernardino for a matchup against the No. 2 Coyotes on Sept. 10. Once again, the Tritons ran into trouble against a ranked opponent, this time falling 1-3 to the powerful Coyotes. After their second loss of the year, the Tritons grabbed two quick wins from Cal State Monterey Bay and Sonoma State at home on Sept. 16 and 17 to bring them to their current record of 10-2, and 2-1 in California Collegiate Athletic Association matches.
This 10-2 start marks an impressive debut for head coach Tom Black, who began coaching the Tritons this season. Black, a UCSD alumnus and a star Triton volleyball player from 1993-96, was appointed head coach of the Tritons after working as an assistant coach for the University of Southern California over the last two seasons. Black’s intoroduction comes on the heels of the Tritons’ record-setting 30-win season last year. Their 30-2 mark was good enough for a NCAA Division II Tournament berth, where they played well enough to advance to the Pacific Regional Final.
The Tritons look to make it to the D-II Tournament again this year, although they lost all of their 2004 starters to graduation and have to adjust to a new coaching staff. Despite these challenges, UCSD will look to be in the thick of the playoff race come November.
