No. 13 UC San Diego Pulls Away in 3-1 Win Despite Gunsaulus' Career-High 25 Kills

Box Score

LA JOLLA -- Junior outside Alijah Gunsaulus led all hitters with a career-high 25 kills while hitting .500 on the night, but 13th-ranked UC San Diego pulled away in the final two sets to take a 23-25, 28-26, 25-13, 25-12 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills to send the Toros home winless over this weekend's league roadtrip.

The Toros fall to 1-7, 0-4 CCAA with the loss as UCSD hit a season-high .293 on its home floor in RIMAC Arena.

On the attack, the Tritons put down 57 kills while making only 18 errors in 133 attempts. The team's previous season best for hitting was .266 against Cal State Stanislaus on Sept. 12. UCSD was also effective from the service line, acing the Toros 10 times, also a season-high.

Individually, two Tritons recorded double-doubles. Danielle Dahle finished with 13 kills and 10 digs, while Amanda Colla registered 11 kills and 11 digs. Caitlin Brenton had 23 points with 16 kills, five aces and four block assists to go along with nine digs.

CSUDH attacked at .171 (48-24-140) and racked up nine errors at the service line.

Alijah Gunsaulus led all players with 25 kills while hitting .500. Korryne Kelley had 11 digs on the defensive side.

The second set proved to be pivotal. The Tritons owned a 16-12 lead after a Brenton kill, but the Toros scored six consecutive points to take an 18-16 advantage. Dominguez Hills had set points at 24-23 and 25-24, but UC San Diego turned both of them away. At 26-26, a Dahle kill gave set point to the Tritons and blocks by Dahle and Alyssa McNeely on the next play gave the set, and the momentum, to UCSD.

With the third frame tied 7-7, the Tritons strung together a four-point run, backed by two Dahle kills, and they would not surrender the lead the rest of the way. That included the fourth set as the Tritons scored the first two points of the stanza and would lead wire-to-wire. Leading 16-10, a huge seven-point spree essentially iced the victory. Rachel Gam scored the Tritons' 24th and 25th points on kills.

CSUDH returns home next weekend to host the Bays, beginning with a battle against Cal State East Bay on Friday, September 26, set for a 7 pm first serve in the Torodome.

(Courtesy UCSD)

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