LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 12th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team (11-2, 5-1 California Collegiate Athletic Association) hits the road for two conference matches this week. UCSD faces Chico State (10-6, 3-3 CCAA) in Chico on Friday, October 3. From there, the Tritons will then head south to face Cal State Stanislaus (4-12, 1-5 CCAA) in Turlock. Both matches are set to begin at 7:00 p.m. UCSD is coming off a week in which it won two, five-set matches against ranked opponents in No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino and No. 20 Cal Poly Pomona. Senior outside hitter Rebecca Bailey is closing in on the all-time kills mark. She enters the week with 1,141 kills, which is 41 kills shy of the all-time mark at UCSD of 1,182 held by Stacy Dunsmore.
Chico State is coming off a week in which it won two, CCAA road matches. The Wildcats swept Cal State Dominguez Hills and then handed Cal State L.A. a four set loss in Los Angeles.
The Wildcats have a balanced offense led by all-conference setter Erica Brick. Brick averages 10.42 assists per set while the Wildcats have five players averaging at least 1.95 kills per set. Crystal Trifeletti (2.66 kills per set), Lindsay Macias (2.65), Makenzie Snyder (2.65), Megan Cape (2.00) and Gillian Heydorff (1.95) make up the majority of the CSUC offense. Trifeletti hits at a team-high .269 clip and 0.76 blocks per set, Macias leads with 19 aces and 2.87 digs per set.
The Tritons lead the all-time series against Chico State 18-2. However, the two losses have come in each of the last two years. In 2007, the Tritons lost on Chico State's homecourt by a 30-17, 30-21, 30-32, 30-21 margin. UCSD would rebound to defeat CSUC in RIMAC Arena by a 30-25, 31-29, 30-27 decision.
Chico State's CCAA losses have come against Sonoma State, CSU San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona. Other common opponents with the Tritons include a Wildcat four-set win over Notre Dame de Namur and a sweep over Seattle Pacific.
Cal State Stanislaus won its first conference match last week defeating Cal State Dominguez Hills in four sets. The Warriors nearly upset Humboldt State earlier in the season, losing to the ?Jacks in five sets. HSU has a homecourt win over Cal State L.A. this year.
CSUS is led by Jen Gee with 3.00 kills per set, while Lianne Vicchio adds 2.81 kills per set and a team best 29 aces. Nicki Brown and Colleen Sullivan have split setting duties this year. Megan Britton has a team best 2.93 digs per set.
The Tritons are 20-2 all-time against the Warriors. Since the Tritons lost to the Warriors in 2002, UCSD has dealt the Warriors 11 consecutive defeats. Last year the Tritons swept the Warriors twice, although the win in Turlock was close, 30-12, 30-28, 30-28.
After going five-sets nine times in 2007, the Tritons had their first five-set matches of 2008, going the distance in wins against Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona.
Several trends are occurring with the 2008 Tritons. When UCSD wins the first set, it is undefeated (6-0). The Tritons have never lost the second set, after winning the first set. UCSD has only won the first set of matches this year in six of 13 total competitions.
