The No. 1 UCSD women’s volleyball team closed its conference schedule in style with easy wins over Sonoma State and San Francisco State, earning Triton head coach Duncan McFarland his 200th and 201st career win. This leaves UCSD in prime position to host the NCAA West Regional.
UCSD clicked right from the first serve against Sonoma State on Nov. 14. UCSD hit .415 in the first game with 22 kills to take hold of the match with a 30-20 win. The Seawolves barely put up a fight in the second game, committing 13 errors and found only six kills while the Tritons rolled 30-13. Game three stayed competitive, but UCSD closed out the Seawolves, 30-26.
UCSD matched a season high with 16 blocks as a team in the three-game match. Opposite sophomore Lindsay Crandell had nine total blocks with junior middle blockers Kendra Canape and Katie Hogan adding seven and six, respectively.
The Tritons were happy with the accomplishment, but insisted that the high number of blocks was simply a result of taking care of business.
Happy ending: The Tritons finished their season atop the national rankings with an overall record of 25-4 including head coach Duncan McFarland¹s 200th win.
“”We’ve been working on it and we just did what we needed to do,”” junior outside hitter Bonnie Wilson said.
UCSD’s 61 digs augmented the strong defensive effort by the Tritons. Senior libero Lauren Mills had 17 to lead the team, followed by Wilson’s 12 and junior setter Teresa Ohta’s 11. Wilson also had the match-high in kills with 15, while fellow junior outside hitter Stacy Dunsmore had 12. California Collegiate Athletic Association assists leader Ohta padded her lead with 45 assists for the match.
On Nov. 15, UCSD traveled to San Francisco State to take on the Gators in their final conference match of the season. A Triton win combined with a loss from conference-leading Cal State San Bernardino would have resulted in a share of the CCAA title, and UCSD took care of its end of the bargain in quick fashion. It took the Tritons just 70 minutes to sweep the Gators, 3-0 (30-12, 30-18 and 30-13).
Of the Crandell, Dunsmore and Wilson trio, each tallied 11 kills to share match-high honors. As a team, San Francisco State managed only 24 kills with a .057 attacking percentage.
Wilson was glad that UCSD was able to keep its high level of play and not sink to the level of the Gators.
“”We managed to stay on top and play our game despite them not playing that well,”” she said.
The win places the Tritons at 25-4 overall, and 19-3 in CCAA, placing UCSD second in the conference to Cal State San Bernardino for the third consecutive season. However, UCSD holds the nation’s top ranking in the latest American Volleyball Coaches’ Association poll, and more importantly, the Tritons have the top spot in the latest NCAA West Region rankings. Given UCSD’s two wins to close the season, all indications point to the Tritons hosting the West regional, slated to be held Nov. 20 to Nov. 23.
“”We’re extremely excited because, as of now, we’re undefeated [this season at home] and it’s hard for any team to beat us at home,”” Wilson said.
The West regional will feature No. 3 Western Washington, No. 6 Cal State San Bernardino and No. 19 Hawaii Pacific fighting with No. 1 UCSD for a single spot in the national quarterfinals. No. 2 BYU-Hawaii was forced to forfeit several matches due to the participation of an ineligible player earlier in the season, and as a result, the Seasiders could possibly lose their berth into the playoffs.