On Wednesday, the Tritons faced No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino, falling to the Coyotes in four sets.
Against the undefeated Coyotes (11-0 overall), the Tritons could only muster a win in the second set.
UCSD recorded 42 kills, 5 sets and 79 digs in the campaign.
Although they regained momentum by outhitting the Coyotes in the second set, Cal State San Bernardino still managed to rack up a better hitting percentage overall: .245 to .107.
Despite the loss, senior outside hitter Hillary Williamson finished with a double-double, tallying 16 kills and 12 digs. In addition, senior libero Janessa Werhane would contribute 29 digs of her own, while senior Roxanne Brunsting would have five kills, 18 assists and 16 digs.
Cal State San Bernardino standouts, Samantha Middleborn and Morgan Carty boasted 26 kills collectively.
“We haven’t been playing our best these past few weeks,” head coach Ricci Luyties said. “In the past few matches we’ve struggled in a lot of areas of play, against San Bernardino, Monterey Bay, East Bay, we just haven’t been at the top of our game.”
On Friday, the Tritons were dealt another disappointing loss as they met un-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay on the road. Monterey Bay started strong, victorious in the first two sets of the match. Monterey Bay’s Rhean Fall racked up a hitting percentage of .268 and recorded 23 kills to lead the Otters.
The scores were 19-25, 29-31, 25-21 and 21-25. UCSD and CSUMB would go back and forth throughout the game, with a total of 17 lead changes. Outblocking Cal State Monterey Bay 14-8, the Tritons trailed the Otters in kills (52-62), assists (49-58) and digs (84-93).
Brunsting totaled 18 assists and 25 digs. She would also have a .333 hitting percentage, tying Monique Sena of Cal State Monterey Bay for the top spot. Williamson would offer 12 kills and 15 digs, with 19 assists from freshman Amber Hawthorne. This is the first time since September 2010 that the Tritons have been dealt three consecutive losses. After losing to Sonoma State, UCSD now sits at No. 16 in the national ranking. The Tritons will face the Seawolves again on Friday, Nov. 4 at UCSD.
Continuing their road trip up North, the Tritons managed to pull together a victory, beating Cal State East Bay 3-2The Otters took the first two sets, 21-25 and 20-25, leading the match by halftime, and then the Tritons dug themselves out of the deficit and took the next three sets.
“At times we’ve shown that we can bounce back from being down, and I think as long as we keep getting better—and we know that we can—I think we’ll be secure for the rest of the season,” Luyties said.
Following the second set the Tritons would have 35 kills to Cal State East Bay’s 26 kills. UCSD took the third set with a commanding 25-12 score, and also won the fourth set 25-21 and the fifth set 15-13. Williamson had another strong performance, recording amongst the top scorers, contributing 14 of UCSD’s 55 kills and 26 digs. Despite having a lower hitting percentage, UCSD outblocked CSU East Bay 8-7. Brunsting recorded 26 assists and 16 digs, while freshman Lauren Demos had 12 kills. Sophomore Lizzy Andrews chipped in with nine kills and seven digs. On the opposing side of the net Katie Allen served up 16 kills and 10 digs of her own. The victory broke the Tritons’ losing streak, putting UCSD at 11-4 overall and 7-4 in the CCAA.
“On Monday we get the video of each team, and we’ll start scouting players to prepare for the coming matches,” Luyties said. “But for us right now, a lot of it is fixing things on our side. So we’ll start working on some of the things that we’ve been struggling with.”
The Tritons now sit in 4th place in the conference. UCSD will continue its away series on Friday Oct. 14 when the Tritons face 12-6 San Francisco State.
