UCSD Swimming Teams Both Complete a Three-Peat

The UC San Diego men's and women's swimming and diving teams captured their third conference championship in a row on Saturday afternoon at the Pacific Collegiate Swim and Dive Conference Championships in Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach.

The Triton men tallied 1,548.5 points over the four days, beating second-place Cal Baptist’s total of 1,386. UCSD scored 1,635 points on the women’s side, while Cal Baptist followed with 1,261 points.
 
The Triton women put together a one-two-three finish for the third consecutive day, as Emily Adamczyk (2:14.40), Neda Nguyen (2:18.90) and Michelle McCadden (2:20.29) took the top three spots in the 200 breaststroke. Casey Adams came in fourth in the 200 breast with a time of 2:23.06.
 
Gabby Rossbach (2:04.34) and Olivia Martens (2:04.70) finished in the top two spots in the 200 butterfly while Alex Henley (1:58.72) and Anji Shakya (2:04.95) finished one-two in the 200 backstroke, respectively. Rossbach also took home the 1,650 free title with a time of 17:28.45.
 
The foursome of Henley, Anju Shimura, Olivia Fountain and Katherine Tse won the 400 free in 3:27.67.
 
Matt Herman and Nick Korth were the lone Triton men to take home first-place finishes on the final day. Herman finished first in the 1,650 free with a time of 15:44.80 while Korth won the 200 breast in 1:58.56.

On Wednesday, the first day of competition, the Tritons won four events.

The 200 IM relay team of Eric Owens, Korth, Adam Yen and Blake Langland got things started on the men’s side, as the squad touched the wall nearly four seconds before second-place Loyola Marymount. Their time of 1:30.40 beat the NCAA D-II A qualifying standard of 1:31.09.
 
Tritons Alex Merrill, Kyle Begovich, Julius Espiritu and Michael Lorch also put up an NCAA D-II A qualifying time of 6:42.18 in the 800 free relay. Tyler Runsten scored 307.90 in the one-meter dive, good enough for second place.
 
On the women’s side, the 200 IM relay team snuck in under its qualifying standard by four-tenths of a second, as Sandy Hon, Michelle McCadden, Jessica Ferguson and Amber Tan touched the wall in first place at 1:44.31. The 800 free relay team of Henley, Shimura, Emily Adamczyk and Shakya posted a qualifying time of 7:31.06 while finishing in first place.
 
On Thursday, Sam Duimovich took home first place in the 500 freestyle while posting a NCAA D-II B qualifying time of 4:32.67. Duimovich was spurned on by Herman, who touched second at 4:33.57.  Lorch took third-place honors. 
 
On Friday, the Triton men won six of seven events on the afternoon, headlined by the one-two-three finish of Korth (54.58), Griffin Bracke (56.42) and See Han Lee (56.84) in the 100 breaststroke. Korth’s time beat the NCAA D-II A standard while Bracke and Lee’s time edged the NCAA D-II B standard.
 
Duimovich (3:59.25) and Martin Vanek (3:59.75) finished in the top two spots in the 400 IM while Andrew White (4:05.28) came in fourth. Adam Rice (49.82) and Adam Yen (50.17) went one-two in the 100 butterfly while Owens took home the 100 backstroke title in 49.91.
 
Owens, Korth, Yen and Blake Langland took home top spot in the 400 IM relay with a time of 3:20.10. Runsten repeated as champion in the 3-meter dive, while Luke Calkins finished third.
 
The Triton women finished in the top three spots in the 100 breaststroke, led by freshman Adamczyk’s time of 1:04.17. Nguyen finished second and McCadden followed with times of 1:04.34 and 1:04.76, respectively.
 
Shakya would win the 200 free with a time of 1:52.46 while Henley won the 400 IM in a time of 4:19.89. Henley won her event by more than nine seconds. Rossbach (57.11) and Fountain (57.36) finished first and second in the 100 fly.
 
UCSD also took the gold in the 400 IM relay as the squad of Henley, Nguyen, Adamczyk and Shimura touched first in a NCAA D-II A qualifying time of 3:57.88.
 
A select group of swimmers and divers from both the men’s and women’s teams will compete at the NCAA Division II National Championships from March 9-12 in San Antonio.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Behind another big performance from Chelsea Carlisle, the UC San Diego women's basketball team collected its eighth straight win on Saturday, defeating Cal State L.A. 71-63 at The Eagles Nest in Los Angeles.
 
Carlisle scored 21 points and dished out four assists for the Tritons, who outscored the Golden Eagles by 13 in the first half and led by as many as 21 on the way to their 14th victory in 16 games. She also moved to within nine of the all-time single-season assist mark of 159 with her four assists.
 
UCSD, which has won its last eight road games dating back to early December, improved to 18-9 overall and 16-4 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play. With the win, the Tritons clinched a home game in the opening round of the CCAA tournament on Tuesday, March 1.
 
On Friday, Carlisle scored a game-high 25 points for UCSD in its 71-57 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson.

In that game Lauren Freidenberg hit four of her first five shots and finished with 15 points, while Emily Osga put in 13 on 3-of-5 shooting.
 
UCSD will wrap up the 2010-11 regular season this weekend at Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino.

MEN'S BASKETBALL

The UC San Diego men’s basketball team held an 11-point lead with 13 1/2 minutes to play, but it wasn't enough as Cal State L.A. came all the way back to claim a 64-62 victory Saturday evening at The Eagles Nest.

UCSD, which kept its postseason hopes alive with a huge 61-59 win at No. 13 Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday, fell to 11-15 overall and 6-14 in the CCAA. The Tritons are currently two games out of the eighth and final conference tournament berth with two games to play, meaning they will need to defeat Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino on the road this weekend and get some help to earn a spot.
 
In Friday’s game in Carson, The Tritons trailed by 10 midway through the second half, but came roaring back to upset the Toros and snap a three-game losing streak.
 
James McCann scored five straight points down the stretch to spur the comeback.

Justin Brue scored a game-high 17 points for the Tritons, who registered their first road win since January 3. He finished 7-of-11 from the field and grabbed five rebounds in a team-high 30 minutes. Tyler McGrath scored 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting off the bench, while Casey Ryan tallied eight points and 11 rebounds.
 
McCann finished just 2-of-7 from the field for eight points, but came up huge in the waning moments, hitting a jumper to cut the Toros' lead to one with two minutes left and then draining three free throws with 1:05 remaining to put UCSD in front for good.

UCSD has been no stranger to close games this season. Including both of this weekend's contests, the Tritons have played a total of 10 games decided by five points or fewer in 2010-11. The Tritons are just 3-7 in those games, including their 76-73 double overtime victory over Cal State L.A. in the first meeting of the year on Jan. 13.

BASEBALL
 
After improving to 3-0 on the season with a one-hit shutout over Cal State East Bay on Saturday,  UC San Diego senior right-hander Tim Shibuya has been named the Wilson/CCAA Pitcher of the Week.
 
Shibuya faced the minimum in seven innings of work in a 1-0 win vs. the Pioneers. The Jackson, WY, native, who became UCSD’s all-time wins leader on Feb. 11, struck out four CSUEB batters and walked two. Shibuya retired the side in order three times and induced a total of 14 ground ball outs. It was the fifth combined shutout of his career.
 
In addition to being 3-0, Shibuya holds a stellar 0.45 earned run average. In 20 innings, he’s given up just one run on 11 hits and has struck out 18 while walking four. Opponents are hitting .159 against Shibuya.
 
It was the second consecutive week that a Triton pitcher has won the award after senior righty Daniel Simmons took it last week.

The No. 1-ranked Tritons, who are 10-2 overall and 3-1 in the CCAA, won three of four games over the weekend against Cal State East Bay.
 
The Tritons belted out 12 hits in the second game of a doubleheader Sunday, one of them being the first collegiate home run for K.C. Rentfro. Greg Selarz upped his season record to 2-1 as he earned the victory in 5 2/3 innings of work. The junior transfer gave up two unearned runs and scattered seven hits while striking out four and walking one.
 
Right fielder Kyle Saul went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a RBI out of the leadoff position. The entire Triton outfield was productive as centerfielder Danny Susdorf had three hits and a run batted in and left fielder Aaron Bauman knocked in a pair.

In Saturday’s second game, Nick Hom had three RBIs, including his first home run as a Triton, a blast over the fence in left-center. Hom played two years at Fresno State, winning a national championship with the Bulldogs in 2008, before transferring to UCSD in 2010. He played in just 16 games in his first year with the Tritons.

After 12 consecutive home games, the Tritons take to the road to play at Cal State Monterey Bay this weekend. Friday's first game in Seaside starts at 2 p.m., Saturday's doubleheader gets underway at 11 a.m. and Sunday's final game is set for an 11 a.m. first pitch.

SOFTBALL

Camille Gaito and Mya Romero of the No. 11 UC San Diego softball team were named the Worth/California Collegiate Athletic Association Softball Pitcher of the Week and the Worth/CCAA Player of the Week, respectively, for the week of Feb. 14-20.

Gaito, a junior from San Rafael, pitched two complete games in Sunday’s tripleheader at Cal State Monterey Bay, improving to a perfect 7-0 on the season with a CCAA-low 0.30 earned run average. Her shutout in the opening game marked her third consecutive complete game shutout.
 
In two starts, she worked 12.0 innings, allowed 10 hits, one run, walked one and struck out nine while limiting the Otters to a .222 average. The run against Gaito was the first earned run charged to the pitcher since Feb. 6.
 
Gaito’s win in the afternoon session gave her 37 wins over her three-year Triton career and tied Christi Martinelli (2001-02) for the fourth-most career victories by any UCSD pitcher. She needs 11 more wins to catch Patty Hurtt's (1985-88) career total of 48, third-best all-time.
 
Romero, a freshman from Woodland, batted .444 (4-for-9) with three runs scored, three doubles and five RBI while posting a .777 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage against the Otters. The shortstop went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI in the third game against CSUMB.
 
Romero leads all Tritons who have started every game in 2011 with a .389 batting average. She leads the CCAA with six doubles and currently ranks first on her squad with 14 hits, 9 RBI, 22 total bases and a .611 slugging percentage.
 
Gaito’s Pitcher of the Week honor is the first CCAA weekly award given to a Triton since she earned Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of March 29-April 4, 2010.

Romero’s award was the first CCAA Player of the Week accolade awarded to a UCSD player since Kris Lesovsky’s honor for the week Feb. 9-15, 2009.

The Tritons (11-2, 6-1 CCAA), who were ranked in the top 25 for the first time since 2008, return to action this weekend as they host Cal State San Bernardino in the third weekend of CCAA competition. After a doubleheader on Friday at 4 p.m., the teams will play a Sunday doubleheader beginning at noon at Triton Softball Field.

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL

The UC San Diego men’s volleyball team dropped a pair of matches over the weekend, losing to No. 3 Long Beach State 3-1 on Friday and to Cal State Northridge 3-1 on Saturday. UCSD dropped to 6-10 overall and 3-7 in the MPSF.

Carl Eberts posted a match-high 11 kills on Friday. He also added eight digs.

Shane Veiga followed with 10 kills, while freshman middle blocker Sebastian Brady posted nine kills and just one error in 12 attacks, good for a .615 hitting percentage.

On Saturday, for the seventh time in his last eight matches, outside hitter Eberts finished with a double-digit kill total. His match-high 13 kills came with two aces, seven digs and two blocks. Eberts also led the Tritons with 16.5 points.

UCSD travels to Provo this Thursday and Friday to take on No. 2 BYU.

WOMEN'S WATER POLO

The No. 18 UC San Diego women’s water polo team could not climb back from an early deficit against No. 6 Loyola Marymount at Canyonview Pool on Friday evening, falling 13-7 in a rematch of the 2010 WWPA tournament championship.
 
The loss marked the Tritons’ first to a WWPA team, as UCSD fell to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in league play. The Lions improve to 8-2 overall and a perfect 3-0 in league play. LMU has won six of its last seven contests.

LMU jumped off to a 5-1 lead early and went on to victory. Felicia Orozco had three goals for the Tritons while goalie Kristen Ostosh had eight saves.

UCSD’s next competition will be this weekend at the UC Irvine Tournament at UCI. The Tritons' next home match is on March 11 against Cal State Bakersfield at 6 p.m.

–Compiled from releases issued by the UCSD sports information office