Bouncing back from a defeat at the hands of Cal State San Bernardino, the UC San Diego women’s volleyball team swept Cal Poly Pomona. With the win over Cal Poly Pomona, the Tritons improve to 4–1 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play.
UCSD had 41 kills, 15 errors, and 126 total attempts, putting the Tritons at a .206 attack percentage. Senior outside hitter Amanda Colla and junior middle blocker Micah Hammond led the team in kills with 11 and 10, respectively. Colla also finished the game with a game-high 25 digs. Sophomore setter Marie Paris set up her team with a total of 31 assists.
Defensively, the Tritons were led by sophomore middle blocker Jessica Rieble who tallied six blocks. Paris also contributed to the defensive effort with five blocks of her own.
The first set was a grueling back-and-forth battle, and neither team could secure a solid lead in the set. The Broncos had a chance to seal the set at 24–21, however, two great blocks by Rieble and a kill by Colla saved set points. The Tritons remained solid, and two errors by the Broncos gave UCSD the set.
Starting off in a similar fashion to the first set, the second set was a close fight between the two teams. Up until the score reached 12–11, neither team had gone on an extended run to pull ahead. At this point in the game, the Tritons shored up their defense and that made all the difference. The Broncos began to make error after error, leading to a 17–13 Triton lead. Cal Poly Pomona scored one more point the rest of the set, unable to breach the Triton defense. UCSD won the second set 25–14.
Cal Poly Pomona started the third set with a head of steam, grabbing an early 8–3 lead. However, no lead was large enough to stifle the Triton offense which was firing on all gears. UCSD relentlessly attacked the Broncos and kept the set close. The set came down to a 24–24 tie when sophomore outside hitter Jessyca Beksa earned a kill assisted by Paris, giving the Tritons a 25–24 lead. Following Beksa’s kill, the Broncos made an attack error and gave the Tritons the match.
Next, the Tritons will look to face Cal State Los Angeles on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. The match will be held at RIMAC.
