POMONA, Calif. - In its first five set match of the season, the 12th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team held on to defeat league opponent Cal Poly Pomona Thursday evening at Kellogg Gym in Los Angeles County.
Scores of the back-and-forth outing went 25-17, 25-19, 24-26, 28-30 and 15-7 in favor of UCSD, which improved to 12-2 overall and 4-2 in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play. CPP, which lost its fourth straight match, dropped to 3-10 and 1-4.
"We did a good job fighting back tonight, but we have to be more aggressive when we have swing attempts and hit quality shots," said fourth-year UCSD head coach Ricci Luyties.
Sophie Rowe and Danielle Dahle (La Mesa/Grossmont HS) each had 18 kills for the Tritons and both recorded a double-double with Rowe adding 14 digs and Dahle 13. Sara McCutchan finished with 12 kills and five blocks, while Kameron Cooper and Heidi Sierks also had five stuffs.
Sierks continued her solid play as UCSD's setter, establishing career-highs in assists (55), digs (19), points (4.0) and blocks. It was her seventh double-double of the season and the fifth in her last six outings.
Libero Brittany Lombardi had a match-best 25 digs for the Tritons.
The Broncos got a match-high 20 kills from Jessica Doerner. Nicoletta Stork had 39 assists and 14 digs, while Christen Williams had eight block assists.
Both teams were below .200 on the attack for the night, with UCSD swinging at .175 (66-33-189) and Cal Poly Pomona at .134 (59-32-202). The Tritons held a 90-74 advantage in digs, while the Broncos out-blocked their opponent, 17-11.
The Tritons dominated the deciding fifth set, rolling to a 9-2 lead following a six-point run, half of those coming off back-to-back-to-back kills by Dahle. They hit .500 in the frame, totaling 12 kills and only two errors in 20 attacks.
"We had two chances in the third set to end the match and didn't," said Luyties. "We came back after being down in the fourth set and had opportunities to finish that game and couldn't close it out. We ended strong in the fifth and overall it was a good learning experience for us tonight."
UCSD concludes a season long, seven match road swing Saturday at Humboldt State (7-5, 2-3 CCAA). The Lumberjacks were swept by No. 16 Cal State San Bernardino Thursday night in Arcata.
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