UC San Diego women’s volleyball (6-22, 4-12 Big West) fell short against UC Davis (18-6, 14-2 Big West) in four sets on Saturday, Nov. 15, at LionTree Arena.
The loss leaves UCSD tied for eighth with UC Riverside in the Big West standings. With only two games left in the regular season, the Tritons are poised to finish below their fifth-place 2024 performance. At last year’s Big West Championships, No. 5 seed UCSD lost 3-1 to No. 4 seed Long Beach State. This year, however, the Tritons’ 4-12 conference record means they will not qualify for postseason play.
Head coach Melanie Greene was not present at the game for a fourth straight contest. Assistant coach Kara Barkdoll Coy served as acting head coach, and men’s volleyball head coach Brad Rostratter filled in as an assistant coach.
The game started as a back-and-forth affair. Neither team could separate itself by more than a point. The Tritons’ run was spearheaded by junior outside hitter Ireland McNees, who put down three kills early on. McNees’ statline came as no surprise, as she leads the Big West conference with 371 kills and 426.5 total points.
In the middle of the set, UCD started to pull away, scoring with a few big kills and a key block by Aggie senior outside hitter Jade Light. She followed that up with back-to-back service aces, forcing a UCSD timeout. McNees put the Tritons back on track with a kill and an ace, but UCD held off a possible Triton comeback, taking the first set 25-18.
McNees kept up her pace to start the second set, dropping in another ace. Whenever it seemed like the Aggies were going to pull away, the Tritons found a way to answer with a run of their own. That changed, however, when Light took control. She went on to rack up multiple kills in a row along with a service ace. Once again, UCD started pulling away in the middle of the set. Sophomore outside hitter Molly McCluskey came alive with a couple big kills for the Tritons to cut UCSD’s deficit to three and force an Aggie timeout. The Tritons’ momentum remained undeterred, as a kill from McCluskey and a service ace from redshirt sophomore setter Mika Rome put UCSD within one. However, the Aggies wouldn’t be denied, scoring three straight unanswered points to take the set 25-21.
The third set started neck and neck once again. No more than 2 points separated the teams for the first half of the set. UCSD gained the lead after back-to-back kills from senior outside hitter Katie Rapp and an ace from McCluskey. Attacking errors began to plague the Aggies, which the Tritons used to build up a 5-point lead that they would maintain for the rest of the set. UCSD took the third set 25-20.
In the fourth, the Aggies took control right away, jumping ahead 4-1 on multiple Triton errors. Freshman middle blocker Mina Olgar stepped up for the Tritons with some big kills and an ace that cut the Aggies’ lead to two. UCD responded with four unanswered points, creating its biggest lead of the set. The Aggies kept the pressure on, going on a 9-1 run to finish the set 25-13 and win the match 3-1.
Despite the defeat, individual Triton performances shone through. Rapp spearheaded UCSD’s offense, leading the Tritons with an impressive 14 kills. McNees was also a force. She had 11 kills and two aces while leading her team with 16 digs.
UCSD is officially out of postseason contention but will be back in action for its final two games of the season next week, starting with a Senior Night matchup against Long Beach State at home on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
