LA JOLLA – In a close match against UC San Diego the Stanislaus State volleyball team battled fiercely with the Tritons but were unable to leave with a victory, falling in three sets at the RIMAC Arena on Friday night.
 
Putting forth a strong performance in sets one and two, the Warriors fell short 26-28 and 21-25 before the intermission. Stan State's efforts were unable to match the momentum the Tritons had built going in to set three, losing the decision 13-25. The Warriors have added an eleventh loss to their record and are now 0-11 with no conference wins (0-3). The Tritons have now advanced to 8-2, 2-0 in the CCAA.
 
Ramey Gardner was the leading hitter for Stan State amassing eight kills. Morgan Miller added seven kills from the middle and setter Jordan Tilley facilitated the team's offense with 18 assists. On defense, libero Kaitlyn Iwamoto led with 15 digs while Gardner, Miller, and Alana Wilson-Reid each tallied three blocks in the front row.
 
The Warriors came out in set one with victory in mind, taking a 4-1 lead to start off the match. Stan State held onto the lead until the Tritons tied the game at 11-11, but took it back at 17-16. The back and forth battle that ensued after point 20 was highlighted by two Warrior aces before the Tritons took the set off of a Warrior error.
 
In set two the Warriors struggled to take the lead but managed to tie the game five times (8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 12-12, 17-17). Discouragement overtook Stan State's performance in the final set as they gave up five runs of three or more points, allowing UC San Diego to grasp the win and preventing themselves from terminating their streak of misfortune.
 
Amanda Colla led for UC San Diego with 15 kills and was one of three Tritons with double digit digs. Colla dug 10, Alyson Penrose had 11 digs, and Molly Daziel led with 16 digs.
 
Tomorrow night the Warriors will head to Cal State San Marcos to take on the Cougars at The Sports Center. The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.