The Cal State San Marcos volleyball team took down the UC San Diego Tritons, three sets to one, in the first California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) match of the season on Saturday, Sept. 9 at The Sports Center.

After a back-and-forth opening set, CSUSM came out on top 25-20. The Tritons then came back to clinch set two 26-24 before the Cougars outscored them 50-28 to prevail in sets three and four.  

The Cougars improved to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in CCAA play.  UC San Diego dropped to 4-3, 0-1 in CCAA.

Senior outside hitter, Courtney Hulla, talked about her thoughts upon going into the big match: “We were ready. We were preparing for it all week, we knew what needed to get done and we were just on a mission.”

Olivia Aguilar, junior, and Maddy Newcombe, junior, tied with 11 kills each to lead the team on the attack.  Senior right side hitter and setter, Lauren Lee, recorded a game high of 24 assists (her most assists this season).  Sophomore libero, Grecia Cordero-Barr, registered her first double-double of the season with 10 assists and 17 digs.

The Cougars set the tone for set three after taking the largest lead of the game at 23-11 and finishing the set 25-13.  They followed suit in the final set of the match, holding a steady lead over UCSD and eventually dominating with a score of 25-15.

“We’re going to talk about the things we did really well tonight as well as tighten up some different areas of our game.  East Bay is a great team, so we’ve got our work cut out for us, but we’re pretty confident in what we can do too, so we’re really looking forward to next weekend,” said Head Coach Andrea Leonard regarding Saturday’s big victory and their upcoming home game.

CSUSM volleyball will be back in action Friday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.  They will be taking on the 5-5 Cal State East Bay Pioneers at The Sports Center.