LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 7th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team made it 22 consecutive wins in its own tournament with a 25-10, 25-20, 15-25, 25-17 win over Mesa State and a 25-18, 25-16, 25-15 sweep against Alaska Anchorage. UCSD improves to 8-0 on the season and begins California Collegiate Athletic Association action next week. Three Tritons were named to the Triton Invitational All-Tournament team. Sylvia Schmidt, Katie Condon and Elaine Chen earned honors, while Jane Chafeh (Cal State San Bernardino), Sara Hoffman (Cal State San Bernardino), Gabriela Bulawczyk (Cal State L.A.) and Stacie Meisner (Alaska Anchorage) were the other honorees.
UCSD and CSUSB were the only teams to go undefeated in the tourney at 4-0. Cal State L.A., Alaska Anchorage and Saginaw Valley State went 2-2, while Northern Michigan and Mesa State both went 1-3. Cal State Dominguez Hills went 0-4.
UCSD's last loss in a Triton Invitational came during the 2002 season against Western Washington.
In the win over Mesa State, the Tritons hit at a .304 clip for the match. Condon led the Tritons with 14 kills on .333 hitting. Schmidt added 12 kills on .320 hitting while Alanna Rutan added nine kills without an error and hit at a .615 clip. Roxanne Brunsting had a team-high 11 digs while Karen Reis served up five aces.
In the first set, the Tritons had no errors with 14 kills and hit at a blistering .636 clip. UCSD scored 16 of the first 18 points of the set to lead 16-2. Audrey Green and Reis had long service runs during the streak. UCSD closed the set easily at 25-10.
The second set was much closer as the final tie came late at 18-18. UCSD scored four straight points on the help of MSU errors to lead 22-18. Elaine Chen was then a part of two late blocks after the Mavericks came back within two points and Brunsting finished the set with an ace at 25-20.
The Tritons fell behind quickly at 10-5 in the third set and could never recover. Mesa State cruised to the 25-15 win.
With the Tritons leading 10-8 in the fourth set, UCSD went on a 11-4 run to lead 21-12 on a series of two and three point runs. Schmidt sent down the final kill at 25-17.
In the win against UAA, the Tritons hit at a team clip of .357 as Chen had 37 assists. Brunsting had a match-high 17 digs and the Tritons served up 12 more aces as a team.
Schmidt led the team with 18 kills on .471 hitting while Hillary Williamson also hit over .400 (.435) with 11 kills. Condon added 11 kills at an efficient .290 clip.
The Tritons took an early 10-4 lead in the first set before UAA came back within 15-14 later in the set. Williamson would go on to score the Tritons' next three kills to push UCSD ahead 19-15. UAA got no closer than three points the rest of the way as Schmidt closed the set with four consecutive kills at 25-18.
In the second set, the Tritons led 7-1 and 11-3 as Brunsting and Janessa Werhane had long service runs. The Tritons opened up a 10 point lead on three occasions and closed the set on two Williamson kills.
UCSD continued to overmatch the Seawolves in the third set, jumping out to a 10-4 lead. UAA came back quickly within 11-10, but the Tritons went on a 6-3 run, capped by a Werhane ace to lead 17-13. Williamson served up the last six points for the Tritons, adding two aces as UCSD won 25-15.
UCSD begins CCAA action next week with three road matches. The Tritons travel to Hayward to take on Cal State East Bay on Wednesday, September 9.
