LA JOLLA, Calif.—UC San Diego women's volleyball defeated UC Irvine, 3-2, on Saturday evening in front of a record crowd at LionTree Arena 
 
The Tritons (11-8, 5-3 Big West) won a marathon five-set battle, defeating the Anteaters (11-8, 5-3 Big West) by set scores of 25-23, 21-25, 26-28, 25-13, 18-16 for the Tritons' fourth consecutive Big West victory.
 
Jasmine Saran paced the offense with a career-high 15 kills, while Ava McInnes  finished with 14 and Molly McCluskey and Emily McDaniel tallied 12 apiece. Audrey Hollis tallied career highs in both assists (53) and digs (16) for her fifth double-double of the season.
 
Four Tritons recorded double-figure digs, led by Paulina Baillie with a career-best 27 digs. Kylie Pries also recorded a career high with 19 digs, while Sabire Karacaova added 13. Pries led the team with four aces, while Iris Canko tallied two. The Tritons tallied 17.0 total blocks, led by Saran with eight blocks (2 solo), McDaniel with seven (4 solo) and Pries with six (1 solo).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams traded points for most of the opening set, battling to a 17-17 tie. UC Irvine used a three-point run to pull in front before the Tritons scored five unanswered to lead 24-21. The Anteaters fought off two set points before UC San Diego ultimately took the opening frame, 25-23. The Tritons tallied six of their 17 blocks in the opening set.
 
In the second set, the teams traded scoring runs of four points and then three points before pulling even at 8-all. UC Irvine used a 7-1 scoring run to create distance at 16-12, but the Tritons rallied to pull even once again at 18-18. A four-point run by the Anteaters made it 22-18 and UCI held on down the stretch to take the set, 25-21, and even the match, 1-1.
 
The third set started similarly to the first two, with neither team building more than a two-point lead and trading points all the way to a 18-18 tie. UC Irvine scored three unanswered late to separate at 24-20. With Baillie at the service line, the Tritons held off four set points, scoring five in a row to reach their own set point, 25-24. The teams continued to battle before UCI eventually took the frame, 28-26. There were 16 ties and 12 lead changes in the marathon set.
 
UC San Diego came out with renewed energy in set four, jumping out to an early 6-1 advantage and leading from start to finish. After Irvine battled back to within one point, the Tritons found their rhythm once again and used a 5-1 scoring run to pull back in front, 11-6. UC San Diego continued to apply pressure, building its lead to as many as 12 before closing out the set, 25-13. 
 
The final set mirrored the rest of the match, with 13 ties and four lead changes. UC Irvine was the first to reach match point at 15-14 with a service ace. The Tritons fought off a second match point at 16-15 before scoring the final three points with a UCI service error, a Pries ace and a kill from McInnes to secure match point, 18-16. 
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Career Highs: Jasmine Saran (15 kills, 21 points), Paulina Baillie (27 digs), Kylie Pries (19 digs), Audrey Hollis (53 assists, 16 digs).
• The match saw 48 ties and 29 lead changes throughout.
• UC San Diego set a home women's volleyball attendance record with 2,522 fans in LionTree Arena.
• UC San Diego is 3-4 in five-set matches this season.
• With the win, the Tritons are 2-8 in the all-time series (2-4 in D-I) with UC Irvine.
• UC San Diego starters were Kylie Pries, Molly McCluskey, Paulina Baillie, Audrey Hollis, Jasmine Saran, Emily McDaniel and Iris Canko. 

UP NEXT
UC San Diego will play host to UC Santa Barbara next Thursday, before traveling to Cal Poly on Saturday. 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 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 84 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.