LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 8th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team suffered its first loss of 2006 with a 25-30, 22-30, 20-30 loss to 24th-ranked Chico State on Saturday night in RIMAC Arena. The Tritons were held to just .089 hitting compared to CSUC's .238. The loss drops the Tritons to 8-1, 3-1 CCAA while the Wildcats improve to 7-1, 3-1 CCAA. Brianna Koche led the Tritons with 11 kills and added five blocks. Nicole Courtney and Rebecca Bailey added six kills apiece. CSUC was led by Gillian Heydorff with 17 kills on .467 hitting.

The first two game were controlled by the Wildcats as CSUC outhit UCSD .333-.162 in game one and .250-.095 in game two. In game three, the Tritons had their strongest game, leading 16-15 as the Wildcats called timeout. Unfortunately it was all Wildcats after that. UCSD closed to within 24-20 after a Courtney kill. CSUC then ran off six straight points to capture the sweep and first ever win over the Tritons in 17 tries.

UCSD is back in action next week at No. 7 Cal State San Bernardino. First serve is set for 7pm in San Bernardino.