The women’s volleyball team is now on a three-game winning streak after beating San Francisco State and Cal Poly Pomona this past weekend on their Northern California road trip.
Coming off of a three-game slump, the No. 18 Tritons rebounded beautifully last Friday against middle-of-the-pack squad San Francisco State.
Senior outside hitter Hillary Williamson played arguably one of the best games of her career, setting career records for her 24 kills, as well as a career best for 17 digs and two blocks to total 25 points against the Gators.
Senior outside hitter Roxanne Brunsting also recorded a career best of 37 assists to lead the team to a deserved 3-2 win over San Francisco.
UCSD’s senior outside hitter Katie Condon finished with eight kills in the campaign, along with freshman and junior middle blockers, Lauren Demos and Julia Freidenberg.
Condon pulled off three critical service aces and had 17 digs, while senior libero Janessa Werhane totaled an outstanding 27 digs.
Sara Kurfess led all players with 30 digs.
In the final set, UCSD went ahead 10-6, but then found itself 12-11 when SFSU scored six of the next seven points. A kill by Williamson, in combination with an SFSU error and a kill by Condon, sealed the set for the Tritons, as well as the match.
“It was a very intense match,” UCSD head coach Ricci Luyties said. “It was another great example of how we can beat good teams on the road. We played a tough match and had to overcome things like a vocal crowd to come out on top.”
With the win, the team improved to 12-4 overall and 8-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while San Francisco State fell to 10-8 overall and 6-7 in the CCAA.
“We battled hard and it was a nice win for us,” Luyties said. “We showed several times that we can be resilient and come back when we’re down. To do that on the road is a real confidence boost.”
The Tritons carried the momentum from their last match into a 3-1 victory Saturday against Cal Poly Pomona.
UCSD came out strong, taking control of the first two sets with scores of 25-19 and 25-17. But the Broncos came back to take the third set, 25-16, when the Tritons recorded their lowest attack percentage of the match at .024. The Tritons closed out with a 25-20 win in the fourth set.
Brunsting finished one kill short of a triple-double, with nine kills, 30 assists and 13 digs. She also recorded two aces and two blocks.
Williamson finished with a double-double for the fifth consecutive time with 13 kills and 16 digs. Condon also had a double-double with 11 kills and 17 digs. Senior middle Julia Freidenberg hit .375 with 10 kills and just one error in 24 attacks, while Werhane recorded a match-high of 28 digs.
On the other end of the net, Cal Poly Pomona’s Taylr Kreutziger and Diana Lake had 11 kills apiece.
The Tritons have taken both games against Cal Poly Pomona this season. With the win, UCSD improves to 13-4 overall and 9-4 in the CCAA, while Pomona fell to 9-9 overall and 6-8 in the conference.
The Tritons return to UCSD to host Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday, Oct. 21 and Saturday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.
