Sports

UCSD Women's Hoop Team No. 9 in Preseason Poll

Eighth-ranked women's soccer team loses for the first time but holds onto first in the CCAA.

Following a sixth consecutive 20-win season in 2010-11, the UC San Diego women’s basketball team earned a No. 9 national ranking in the Women’s Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll that was released Friday.

The Tritons, who have earned a spot in the D-II Bulletin preseason top 25 each of the last three years, welcome back 11 letterwinners, including all five starters, from last season’s squad that finished with an overall record of 20-11 and advanced to the semifinals of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament.

Highlighting the list of returnees is senior guard Chelsea Carlisle, who earned WBCA Honorable Mention All-American accolades after averaging 18.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game as a junior in 2010-11. Carlisle, who was also named to the All-CCAA and Daktronics All-West Region first teams last year, was selected as a Division II Bulletin Super 16 All-American heading into her final season as a Triton.

Also returning is junior guard Emily Osga, who averaged 11.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists a year ago, and senior center Lauren Freidenberg, who posted season averages of 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds on 51.5% shooting. Osga was an All-CCAA First Team selection, while Freidenberg earned a second team nod.

Two-time CCAA Coach of the Year Charity Elliott returns for her fifth season at UCSD, having guided the Tritons to NCAA West Regional appearances in three out of her first four seasons at the helm. Elliott’s squad will be shooting for its third CCAA regular season title in four years after finishing third in the league standings at 17-5 in 2010-11.

Defending national champion Calyton State earned the top spot in the poll after posting an impressive 35-1 record in 2010-11. Bentley is ranked No. 2, followed by Grand Valley State, Arkansas Tech and Fort Lewis to round out the top five.

The Tritons moved down two places in this year’s poll after earning a No. 7 preseason ranking from Division II Bulletin last season.

UCSD will open the 2011-12 campaign with exhibition matchups against Biola University, Stanford and San Diego State in late October/early November, before tipping off the regular season at the GNAC/CCAA Crossover Classic Nov. 11-12 in the Bay Area. The Tritons will square off with West Region rivals Seattle Pacific and Western Washington during the two-day event.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

The eighth-ranked UC San Diego women’s soccer team lost for the first time this season, 1-0 in overtime to 20th-ranked Cal State L.A. in CCAA play on Friday evening at Triton Soccer Field.

Gabbi Segall scored her first goal of the season just over four minutes into the first overtime period to give CSULA the win. Segall put a left-footed shot over UCSD goalkeeper Kristin Armstrong’s shoulder from the left side of the box.

UCSD (9-1-4, 8-1-3 in the CCAA) rebounded on Sunday with a 1-0 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills.

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Friday’s clash marked the third consecutive game the Tritons have failed to score. UCSD is 0-1-2 within that span. The last time the Tritons went three games without scoring was Oct. 31–Nov. 7 in 2008.

UCSD nearly ended the match without overtime. Johnson took a corner kick with a minute to play and the ball rebounded to Danielle Dixon about 30 yards out. Dixon took a pair of touches before pounding a shot off the crossbar.

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Senior midfielder Courtney Capobianco brought the Tritons’ goal-less streak to an end on Sunday afternoon against Cal State Dominguez Hills, scoring in the 89th minute to hand UCSD a 1-0 win over the visiting Toros.

Cassie Callahan won the ball in midfield for the Tritons and played it behind the CSUDH back line intended for Capobianco. Capobianco took a touch along the right side of the box before firing a shot over the left shoulder of the keeper and into the top of the net.

The performance marked Capobianco’s second notable effort in the box score this season for the Tritons. She scored twice and added an assist in the Tritons’ 5-0 win over Cal State Monterey Bay on Sept. 30.

UCSD’s magic number to qualify for the CCAA Championships is 2 going into this weekend’s home contests with Humboldt State (4:30 p.m. Friday) and Sonoma State (noon Sunday).

If the seeds for the Championships were handed out today, they would be given as follows: No. 1 UCSD (8-1-3, 27 points), No. 2 Sonoma State (8-3-1, 25 points), No. 3 Cal State L.A. (7-3-2, 23 points) and No. 4 Cal State Stanislaus (6-3-3, 21 points), with No. 5 CSUC (6-4-2, 20 points) and No. 6’s Cal State San Bernardino (6-5-1, 19 points) and San Francisco State (6-5-1, 19 points) on the outside looking in.

MEN'S SOCCER

The UC San Diego men’s soccer team surrendered three early goals and could not recover in the Tritons’ 4-2 loss to No. 13 Cal State L.A. in CCAA play on Friday evening at Triton Soccer Field.

CSULA midfielder Timo Schwar scored less than five minutes into the match before adding an assist 10 minutes later on Antti Arvola’s breakaway to make it 2-0.

UCSD nearly cut the lead in half in the 30th minute. Cory Wolfrom lifted a pass behind the CSULA back line for Jordan Valenciano, who got to the bouncing ball, but his volley from 10 yards sailed high and wide.

The Golden Eagles opened the game up in the 34th when Marvin Sandoval sent a shot into the top of the net from 20 yards out.

“CSULA did a good job reminding us of the approach we need to take if we’re going to come out and be successful,” said UCSD head coach Jon Pascale. “They are very organized, very disciplined, and they work well together.”

Andisheh Bagheri volleyed home his first goal of the season before the halftime whistle to give the Tritons a little life before the break. Franco Cruz laid a pass off for Bagheri, who volleyed the bouncing ball one-time from 22 yards away, cracking the shot off the right post and in.

Despite the score line, CSULA had only three more shots (16) than UCSD (13). The Tritons won the corner kick battle, 8-3.

UCSD came out quick to start the second half, but could not find an early goal to get the team back in it. UCSD keeper Jesse Brennan kept the score line the same in the 60th, blocking a one-on-one opportunity with Jordan Payne at the penalty spot.

After CSULA added a fourth goal in the 67th minute, Cruz nearly answered a minute later by cracking a rocket off the cross bar from the left edge of the box.

Tsuk Haroush scored his first goal of the season less than four minutes from the end of regulation. The striker calmly one-timed a shot into the back of the net from the right side of the six-yard box.

UCSD drops to 6-7 overall and 5-6 in conference play. It marks the first time since Sept. 23 that the Tritons have been below .500 on the year. CSULA improves to 8-1-4 overall and 6-1-4 CCAA.

“Every once in awhile you need a reminder on what it takes to win and tonight we got that in a very interesting fashion,” said Pascale.

The Tritons will host the second contest of a six-match home stand on Sunday at noon against Cal State Dominguez Hills. CSUDH dropped UCSD 1-0 on Sept. 23 in the first leg of the teams’ CCAA series.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

The 18th-ranked UC San Diego women's volleyball team won its third straight match Saturday with a 3-1 league victory over Cal Poly Pomona at Kellogg Gym.

The Tritons came out strong and rolled through the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-17. The Broncos rebounded to take set three, 25-16, but UCSD closed it out with a 25-20 win in the fourth set.

UCSD ended the night with a 61-48 advantage in kills and hit .211 (61-24-175) to CPP's .160 (48-22-163). The Tritons also out-blocked the Broncos 10-6.

For the third time this season, senior Roxanne Brunsting finished one kill short of a triple-double with nine kills, 30 assists and 13 digs. She also added two aces and a pair of blocks.

Outside hitter Hillary Williamson posted a double-double for the fifth consecutive time with 13 kills and 16 digs. Katie Condon also had a double-double with 11 kills and 17 digs. Middle blocker Julia Freidenberg hit .375 with 10 kills and just one error in 24 attacks. Libero Janessa Werhane collected a match-high 28 digs.

Cal Poly Pomona got 11 kills apiece from Taylr Kreutziger and Diana Lake. Five Broncos had double-digit dig totals, including Lake's team-high 19.

After tearing through the first two sets, the Tritons had their lowest attack percentage of the match i the third set at .024 with 10 kills and nine errors in 42 swings. However, Cal Poly Pomona returned the favor by hitting .093 (10-6-43) in the fourth frame.

The win gave the regular season series sweep to UCSD as the Tritons defeated the Broncos in straight sets at RIMAC Arena in early September.

UCSD improved to 13-4 overall and 9-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). CPP fell to 9-9 overall and 6-8 in the league.

On Friday, Williamson had a career-high 24 kills and Brunsting totaled a career-best 37 assists in a hard-fought 3-2 league win over San Francisco State Friday at Main Gymnasium. Scores of the match, which lasted a minute shy of two and a half hours, were 25-23, 22-25, 22-25, 25-17 and 21-19.

Following four straight road matches, the Tritons return home to RIMAC Arena to host CCAA opponents Cal State L.A. and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday and Saturday. Both matches are slated for a 7 p.m. first serve. All UCSD students are admitted free to all home matches with a valid ID.

MEN'S WATER POLO

Chase Racich scored three goals, including two in the decisive fourth quarter, as No. 5 UC San Barbara dealt No. 9 UC San Diego a 10-8 defeat in a nonconference matchup on Friday evening at Canyonview Pool. The Tritons cut the Gauchos' lead to just a single goal twice in the final frame, but they could not come through with the tying score.

UCSB, which was coming off a narrow 6-5 loss to No. 1 Stanford on Sunday, improves to 12-6 on the year, while UCSD drops to 11-5. The Tritons have lost three straight over a span of five days, falling to No. 2 Cal (18-8) on Oct. 9 and No. 12 Long Beach State (9-8) on Wednesday before Friday's setback.

"Although our last three games have been losses to MPSF teams, we still may be turning a corner here," head coach Denny Harper said. "We stepped up and competed tonight against a Santa Barbara team that gave No. 1 Stanford all it could handle in its last game. I was happy with the overall contributions everyone made tonight."

Sophomore Josh Stiling had three goals to pace the Tritons. Senior Graham Saber added two scores and John Butler, Brian Donohoe and Lukas Syka chipped in with one goal apiece.

The Gauchos took an early 2-0 lead before Stiling's first goal of the evening made it 2-1 to end the first quarter. UCSB then outscored UCSD by the same margin in the second stanza to take a 4-2 lead at the half.

The Tritons struck first in the third quarter as a score from Syka brought UCSD to within 4-3, but back-to-back goals gave UCSB a three-goal advantage with 4:55 remaining in the period. Trailing 7-4 three minutes later, Stiling and Butler scored on consecutive possessions to bring the Tritons within one with 1:20 left in the quarter.

Senior goalkeeper David Morton would follow with a huge save of a Gaucho penalty shot to keep the score at 7-6 heading into the final frame.

UCSB took an 8-6 edge, but Stiling answered on a nice cross-pool pass from William Brown to cut it to 8-7 with 3:27 left to play.

After UCSB scored again to go ahead 9-7 lead with 1:53 remaining, Saber followed with a goal out of a UCSD timeout to make it 9-8 with 32 seconds left, but it was too little, too late as UCSB was able to run the clock out on its final possession. With Morton out of the cage on the final play, UCSB scored on the empty net to cap off the victory.

Morton finished with 13 saves in goal for the Tritons, while Jay Lovero made five stops for UCSB.

UCSD will now look to bounce back against Western Water Polo Association rival Loyola Marymount on Friday in Los Angeles. The Tritons have gone 1-2 in three games against the Lions this season, dropping two at Canyonview before posting a 9-5 win at the SoCal Tournament in Long Beach on Oct. 2.

MEN'S GOLF

The UC San Diego men’s golf team finished ninth out of 16 teams competing in the Lindsay Olive Wildcat Classic after carding rounds of 312 and 305 at the Sevillano Links on Tuesday in Corning, CA.

The Tritons, who entered the day in a two-way tie for ninth place with Notre Dame de Namur following an opening round 318, shaved six strokes off that total in round two and then carded their best round to wrap things up and maintain their position.

UCSD, which finished with a final score of 71-over-par 935, held off 10th-place Sonoma State by three strokes.

Sophomore Lewis Simon was the Tritons’ top individual finisher, posting a final tally of 229 (+13) on the difficult John Daly Signature course. Simon, who fired back-to-back 76s on Tuesday after shooting a 77 in the first round Monday, finished tied for 21st place overall.

Fellow sophomore David Smith was UCSD’s next-highest finisher, carding rounds of 79 and 75 on Tuesday to wrap up the tournament at 18-over 234, good enough for a share of 35th place. Freshman Jay Lim finished in a tie for 38th place at 236 (80-80-76), while sophomore Jacob Williams concluded the competition at 239 (81-78-80) to earn a share of 45th place.

Top-ranked Chico State ran away with the team title, finishing with an impressive final tally of 30-over-par 894. The host Wildcats held a nine-stroke lead over second place Grand Canyon at the conclusion of play on Monday and then carded rounds of 306 and 294 on Tuesday to increase their advantage.

Grand Canyon finished second at 914, while ninth-ranked Cal State Stanislaus and No. 11 Western Washington tied for third at 917.

Chico’s Kyle Souza carded a 4-over 220 (71-76-73) to claim individual medalist honors by two shots over Hawaii-Hilo’s Travis Russell (76-74-72).

Head coach Mike Wydra’s squad returns to action Monday and Tuesday, again in Northern California,at the Cal State Monterey Bay Otter Invitational. The two-day event will be held at the Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside.

—Compiled from releases issued by the UCSD Sports Information Office


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