HONOLULU, Hawai'i– In a back-and-forth battle that saw 40 ties and 17 lead changes, UC San Diego women's volleyball dropped a hard-fought match to Hawai'i, 3-1, on Saturday night at Stan Sheriff Center.
 
The Tritons (8-10, 1-5 Big West) battled closely with the Rainbow Wahine (9-5, 6-0 Big West) in four tightly contested sets, 25-27, 28-30, 25-23, 19-25.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego held the advantage in hitting percentage .253, compared to .235 and the advantage in blocks, 12-5. Hawai'i held the advantage in kills (69-53), aces (7-3), assists (66-51), and digs (68-47.
 
Ava McInnes led the Tritons with a season-best 22 kills, adding seven digs, four blocks and two aces for a team-high 26.5 points. Zaria Henderson finished with 11 kills and an ace, while Emily McDaniel tallied nine kills and a team-best six blocks. Naya Dong tallied 11 digs, while Izzi Strand finished with 43 assists and eight digs.
 
Hawai'i took the early lead in the opening set, 7-4, before UC San Diego put together a four-point run to take the lead 9-8. The Tritons used another 5-1 run to build their lead to 18-14 before UH answered with a 4-0 run to tie it at 18-all. The teams traded points before UC San Diego reached its first set point, 24-22, and getting one more, 25-24, before UH tallied three consecutive points to take the opening set, 27-25.
 
The Tritons took an early 3-1 lead in set two, and held the advantage all the way to 19-18 before Hawai'i scored two consecutive points to take the lead. UC San Diego rallied for a 4-0 scoring run, but UH put together a run of their own to tie it 23-23. The Tritons reached three set points before the 'Bows tallied back-to-back kills to take the second set, 30-28.
 
The third set saw the Rainbow Wahine build an early lead, 9-6, and held a four-point lead as late as 18-14 before the Tritons rattled off five-straight points to take the lead 19-18. The teams continued to trade points before UC San Diego inched in front, 24-21, and eventually took the set, 25-23, to extend the match.
 
UC San Diego carried the momentum into the fourth set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. The Tritons held the lead throughout the first half of the set before Hawai'i battled back to a 14-14 tie. The teams traded points before the Rainbow Wahine closed out the set with a 7-1 scoring run to take the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-1.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Ava McInnes tallied a season-high and her second 20+ kill match of the season. notched her fifth double-double, while Izzi Strand tallied her tenth of the season.
• UC San Diego's .253 hitting percentage marked its best of the conference slate to date.
• It marked the first conference loss for UC San Diego that didn't get pushed to five sets.
• With the loss, UC San Diego fell to 0-4 in the all-time series with Hawai'i and 0-1 this season.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns to LionTree Arena for four matches, beginning Oct. 14 against Long Beach State at 7 p.m. and Oct. 15 versus Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. The matches will be broadcast on ESPN+ and live statistics will be available via UCSDTritons.com.
 
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.