LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 3rd-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team beings postseason action at the NCAA West Regional in San Bernardino on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. UCSD, 28-2 overall, will face San Francisco State, a team which handed the Tritons one of their losses this season. The tournament will run from Nov. 19-21 with all matches played at the Coyote Den on the Cal State San Bernardino campus. The Tritons finished second in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while the Gators finished in sixth-place. The tournament will have a CCAA feel for the Tritons, as the winner of the UCSD vs. SFSU match will play the winner of the Cal State L.A. vs. Sonoma State match. The semifinals will take place on Friday with the Championship slated for Saturday.
This will be UCSD's fourth trip to the NCAA tournament in the last five seasons under head coach Tom Black. Overall, UCSD has made the postseason in 29 of the last 30 years. In 2006, the Tritons won the NCAA West Regional tournament at Cal State San Bernardino. In 2007, the Tritons advanced to the West Regional semifinal match and in 2008, UCSD dropped a first-round five-set match to Cal State L.A. UCSD's 28 wins is the most since the 2004 season when the Tritons won 30 matches and reached the West Regional final.
Thursday's schedule includes a 12:00 p.m. match (Cal State L.A. vs. Sonoma State), a 2:30 match (San Francisco State vs. UC San Diego), a 5:00 p.m. match (Alaska-Anchorage vs. Hawaii-Hilo) and a 7:30 match (Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State San Bernardino).
The semifinal matches will be played at 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Friday night and the regional championship match is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start on Saturday. All NCAA West Regional matches will take place at the Coyote Den on the CSUSB campus.
The Tritons split their two matches against San Francisco State during the conference season. On October 3, UCSD came away with a 25-15, 25-17, 25-17 sweep. UCSD outhit SFSU .330 - .065 as Sylvia Schmidt led the way with 16 kills on .583 hitting. Katie Condon added 10 kills on .364 hitting. SFSU was led by Beth Perkins with nine kills as no SFSU starter hit over .231.
On November 6 in San Francisco, the Gators came away with a 25-19, 16-25, 25-15, 30-28 win to halt the Tritons 16-game winning streak. SFSU got 21 kills from Beth Perkins and another 20 kills from Lauren Walsh as the Gators held UCSD to a .181 team attack percentage. Schmidt sent down 20 kills in the loss for the Tritons.
If the Tritons advance to the semifinals on Friday, UCSD would face the winner of the Cal State L.A. vs. Sonoma State match. UCSD won twice against both schools, going five sets in one match against both the Golden Eagles and Seawolves.
