The No. 14 UCSD women’s volleyball team ventured from the comfort of its own courts this past weekend to face Cal State Monterey Bay and Sonoma State, splitting the two matches by overcoming the Otters in straight sets on Oct. 22 but falling to the Seawolves in a five-game thriller on Oct. 21.
Having beat the Seawolves in straight sets just last month, the Tritons (16-5 overall, 8-4 California Collegiate Athletic Association) went into the game with perhaps a bit too much confidence, which ultimately cost them the win, according to freshman Kimberly Carpenter.
“We weren’t prepared and overlooked them because we had the skill to beat them for sure,” said Carpenter. “We work our butts off in the gym at every practice. The coaches are really intense and every drill is important. We really beat ourselves.”
The Tritons have had their fair share of drama this season, with five of their matches lasting five games. UCSD was victorious in its first four five-game matches; however, the Seawolves ended their streak and handed the Tritons the loss with a 7-15 win in the fifth game.
“Sonoma really stepped it up and we gave them lots of opportunities and untimely errors,” head coach Tom Black said.
Junior Nicole Courtney blamed the loss on the Tritons’ subpar serving.
“We struggled with it a lot this week, which is weird because usually it is one of our stronger points,” she said. “We bounced back from Friday’s loss, but even that was a closer game than we would have liked it.”
In light of new confidence from the win over the Otters, the team is staying focused with a positive attitude. They realize the importance on relying on each other.
“We have had our rough spots, but we are progressively becoming a closer-knit team,” Courtney said.
Carpenter, who had 16 kills against the Otters, said she agrees whole-heartedly with her teammate.
“We are one unit,” she said. “It’s the best team I have ever played for. Everyone is completely supportive and has each other’s backs 200 percent. We are all out there for the team.”
The Tritons will go “out there” six more times this regular season. The team has a four-game homestand from Oct. 28 to Nov. 4 before closing out the season on the road against Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12, respectively.
Carpenter aims to go out with a bang in the season finale.
“Being a fairly new team, nobody really has high expectations of us,” she said. “I want to do the very best we possibly can to shock everyone with how well we do.”
Black also puts his full faith in the girls and said he recognizes that they have “a whole lot of character.”
“We just need to keep that pressure on the other side of the net,” he said. “For the most part, the girls have done a really good job and will do it again.”
