LONG BEACH, Calif.–UC San Diego women's volleyball fell to Long Beach State, 3-0, on Friday evening in Walter Pyramid.
The Tritons (12-17, 5-12 Big West) played their tenth consecutive match in straight sets, falling to the Beach (17-8, 12-5 Big West) 22-25, 29-31, 23-25.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Statistically, the teams were evenly matched, with LBSU holding the slight edge in kills (48-44), aces (5-3), blocks (9-8), digs (58-57) and assists (46-40). The Tritons hit .183 as a team, compared to .226 for the Beach.
Zaria Henderson and
Ava McInnes led the offense with a match-high 15 kills each. Henderson notched her 11th double-double, finishing with a team-best 13 digs. Defensively,
Izzi Strand led the way with four blocks—adding 37 assists—and
Dani Mason and
Emily McDaniel added three blocks each.
Naya Dong and
Natalie Repetti added 12 digs each.
The Tritons took the early 3-1 lead in set one, but the Beach closed the gap quickly and the teams remained knotted to a 10-10 tie. UC San Diego then put together a 3-0 run to take the lead and force a LBSU timeout. The Tritons held on to the lead until the Beach tied things again at 16-all. LBSU took the lead with a 3-0 of its own 23-20, and despite a late push from the Tritons the Beach took the first set, 25-22.
After the teams kept things close to begin the second set, UC San Diego stretched a three-point lead that the Tritons held as late as 18-15. Long Beach State put together a 3-0 run late to tie the set and the teams traded points to extend the set. The Tritons had four set points, but LBSU tallied the final three points to take the marathon set, 31-29, and lead the match, 2-0.
Long Beach State carried the momentum into the final set, jumping out to a 10-6 lead. The Tritons rallied late to tie the set, 21-21, and held off one set point before LBSU eventually took the set, 25-23, and the match, 3-0.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Ava McInnes tallied double-figure kills for the 25th time this season.
- Naya Dong recorded her 28th match with double-figure digs.
- Zaria Henderson tallied her 11th double-double and her 17th match with double-figure kills.
- With the loss, UC San Diego falls to 0-3 in the all-time series with Long Beach State and 0-2 in the season series.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego will remain on the road to take on Cal State Fullerton on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. The match 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.
