SAN DIEGO — UC San Diego came into Jenny Craig Pavilion with just one win on the season. The University of San Diego, by contrast, was riding a four-match win streak, had already won two Fall 2025 tournament championships, and had received votes for top-25 inclusion. On Saturday night, none of that mattered.
In the first-ever Division I meeting between the crosstown rivals, the underdog UCSD Tritons (2-10) stunned the USD Toreros (7-4) in a five-set thriller, 25-22, 25-21, 17-25, 25-27, 16-14, giving the Tritons bragging rights of a sort across town.
Over the weekend, San Diego’s three Division 1 schools - San Diego State, University of San Diego, and UC San Diego - and Yale, all competed in the Jack Talmadge Volleyball Classic, named after the longtime USD fan. The local schools took turns defeating each other, so no team emerged with the definitive San Diego crown.
UCSD had chances to finish the match in four sets, holding match point at 24-23, only to see USD storm back and steal it, 27-25, to force a fifth.
But the Tritons refused to fold. Down 13-12 in the deciding set, sophomore defensive specialist Paulina Baillie, a Sage Creek High standout from Carlsbad, stepped to the service line. UCSD tied the score, lost the next point, then answered USD’s match point at 14-13 with a kill from Ireland McNees to level at 14. A USD attack error flipped momentum, and moments later, junior Molly McCluskey drilled a service ace to seal the 16-14 win, and the program’s first victory over the Toreros at the Division I level.
McNees finished with 16 kills and 15 digs, while Maria Fernanda Afonso led UCSD with 18 kills. Setter Mika Rome finished with 50 assists. Molly McCluskey contributed 14 kills, 12 digs and three service aces, including match point.
The Toreros were led by Isabel Clark’s career-high 25 kills and Tatum Lane’s 46 assists, while Nemo Beach finished with 16 kills, 13 digs, and USD’s lone ace of the night.
UCSD outblocked USD 14–11 and held a 5–1 advantage in aces.
In other tournament matchups, SDSU defeated UCSD, 3-1, then lost to USD 3-2. Yale defeated UCSD 3-2 and SDSU 3-0, and lost to USD 3-1.
The Tritons begin Big West play Friday Sept 26 at home versus Cal State Fullerton at 6 p.m. and travel to UC Irvine on Saturday for a 5 p.m. start. The matches will be broadcast on ESPN+.
The Toreros begin West Coast Conference play on Sept 25 at Pepperdine at 6 p.m. Viewers can watch on ESPN+.
To aid transparency to our work, HSSD will share when writing was aided with AI. A draft of this article was partially generated by chatgpt.