Chico, Calif. ? The 14th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team went on the road to defeat 13th-ranked Chico State 23-30, 30-20, 35-33, 30-22 on Friday night. UCSD's eighth straight win gives the Tritons sole possession of second-place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. With the win, UCSD improves to 16-2, 11-2 CCAA, while CSUC drops to 15-3, 10-3 CCAA. Rebecca Bailey sent down a match-high 16 kills, while Nicole Courtney and Brianna Koche added 15 apiece. Sylvia Schmidt added eight kills and a match-high seven blocks.
In game one, the Tritons took the first lead at 8-5 and the teams would go back and forth and tie five times until Chico State took a lead at 20-18. After UCSD's Brianna Koche put down a kill to come within 20-19, CSUC would score five of the next six points to take a 25-20 advantage. UCSD would get no closer than three points the rest of the way as CSUC took game one 30-23.
With CSUC ahead 9-7 in game two, UCSD's Kristin Halvorsen served up six consecutive points which included two aces, a Sylvia Schmidt and Rebecca Bailey block and a Courtney kill to go up 13-9. Courtney sent down another kill to give the Tritons a 22-16 lead as Chico State called timeout. The Tritons extended the lead to eight points on an ace by Elaine Chen, 25-17. UCSD would cruise to the 30-20 win as Courtney put down the final point.
In the third game, CSUC would take a three point advantage at 18-15 before UCSD took a 22-21 lead on a Courtney kill, its first lead since 13-12. Back-to-back aces by CSUC would help the Wildcats regain a 24-22 advantage. UCSD's Koche then put down a kill to put the Tritons back ahead 26-25. CSUC continued the back-and-forth trend, taking a 27-26 lead. UCSD responded, with two quick scores to take a one point lead, which quickly evaporated to a 29-28 CSUC lead. UCSD then fended off five game point chances against CSUC, before the Tritons' Amber Ries and Koche came up with a big block to give the Tritons a 34-33 lead and the game on a Courtney kill at 35-33.
The Tritons opened up a 10-6 lead in game four as Schmidt tallied a kill as Chico State called timeout. After UCSD extended the lead to 13-7, only to see the Wildcats storm right back to come within 14-12. The Tritons then recovered to take a 17-12 lead after a Bailey solo block. The Tritons took their largest lead at 22-14 after Halvorsen served up an ace. CSUC then came back with a run to cut the Triton lead down to 26-22 after an ace. UCSD then scored the final four points on kills by Ries and Koche, a CSUC error and a match ending kill by Bailey, 30-22 UCSD.
UCSD is back in action on Saturday afternoon at Cal State Stanislaus. First serve is set for 3:00 p.m. in Turlock.
