In a California Collegiate Athletic Association matchup with major playoff implication, the UC San Diego women’s volleyball team swept the California State University, San Marcos Cougars 3–0 (25–22, 25–22, 25–21) on Saturday, Nov. 2 at RIMAC Arena.

Though the Tritons were able to sweep the Cougars, each of the sets were tight: the game had 15 ties and 8 lead changes. In the first set, UCSD resisted a late surge by CSUSM to win 25–22. In the second set, the Tritons took an early lead and never gave it up, ending the set 25–22. The final set started poorly for the Tritons though. 

CSUSM got up early on UCSD with seven unanswered points to start the game. The Cougars continued to extend their lead to 10 points, as they led 17–7. However, UCSD was able to rally to retake the lead, going on a 13–2 run to end up taking the set 25–21.

Junior outside hitter Emily Hubbard and sophomore outside hitter Trinity Castaneda led the team on offense, combining for 63 attempts and 24 kills. 

“I am so proud of the team,” Hubbard said after the game to UCSD Athletics. “We just stuck together throughout the whole entire match and even when we were down, we came together and it was really fun.” 

With this win, the Tritons keep their chance at a postseason berth alive, advancing to third place in CCAA South Division rankings. Their overall record stands at 15–7 and 9–5 in the conference. The Tritons are really only half a game up on the Cougars with the win, as they will need to win out the rest of the way to secure a playoff berth. 

The Tritons square up at home against the second seed in the CCAA Southern Division, California State University, Los Angeles, for an important inter-conference matchup on Friday, Nov. 8 in their next matchup heading into the weekend. 

Photo by Ellie Wang.