Kickin’ off the new season right, your very own UCSD Women’s Club Volleyball team hosted League #1 at the one and only RIMAC AUX gym. It was an early morning – post Spirit Night – but coffee is a wonderful thing to get the body moving. After reffing the first match, we jumped right in against LMU and rolled them in the first game. It was a fairly easy win in two games, however, there were many unforced errors (i.e. missed serves, miss hits, shank passes). The flawless Gabbi Heitmann quite literally killed it during the game (and the rest of the day) with her hits. Was it because she had her own cheering section consisting of her supportive boyfriend? The world may never know. The break before our next match was filled with Einstein’s Bagels (shoutout Alicia’s father) and a few unproductive attempts at homework. Next up was USC. It was a close battle, but we just weren’t able to finish the game. It was a mental rollercoaster and inconsistent serve receive that gave us the loss by 2 points. But we did everything to bounce back! Including a quick yoga sesh led by Alicia Chen and Neeka Barooni. Once we felt loose enough to the job done, your Lady Tritons faced off with their favorite foe, UCLA. It was a nail-biter and high-intensity to say the least, but there were a few moments to lighten the mood. Not only did she score kills, the one-and-only Alicia Chen went up and missed the ball entirely. Did she blink? Did the ball disappear? Only she may know the real truth. We battled with those Bruins and Emma Choi did an exceptional job of serving tough to take us to the third game, embodying the cheer “She’s a Monster!”. In the end, we fell short and suffered a hard loss against UCLA despite contrary belief that we were better. The last match of the day was a crossover against PLNU. We smashed them with solid serves and killer hits. Karissa Jacobsen showed off her superior skills of being able to really “connect with her setter” by running a K that resulted in butt to face contact with Akemi Falcon. We were able to go home on a high note and finish the day with a win against our cross-town rivals. It was the first of many tournaments for this club season, and we are continuing to grow together as a team and family. Next up, is the national qualifier over at UCLA. Let’s Shock ‘Em Tritons!