UC Riverside
UC San Diego
Women’s Volleyball Drops Thriller to UC San Diego
10/3/2026 6:35:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Pulsipher ties career high with 12 kills
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside (4-11, 0-4 Big West) finished its first home weekend of conference play on Saturday afternoon with a 3-2 defeat (17-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-19, 8-15) UC San Diego (7-8, 3-1 Big West) at the SRC Arena.
UCR played the Tritons to five sets in Riverside for the third consecutive year.
Two early kills from Malia Tanksley were a bright spot in an otherwise slow start against the Tritons. Madison Pulsipher accounted for four kills in a 5-2 spurt for UCR, and the duo combined for all six of the Highlanders' first early kills to keep things close.
Errors allowed UC San Diego to create enough separation to reach 20 points first. Tanksley and Evelyn Hendrix stuffed a Triton attack before Tanksley retained serve with her fourth kill.
UCR played a more even-keeled set two off the opening serve, and Casi Doll tied things at five after a tip over the net. Hendrix and Tanksley teamed up on the block for UC Riverside's first lead of the set at 7-6, and two Triton attack errors reclaimed leads for the Highlanders.
Service errors on either side of the net saw the home side take a 16-15 lead, only to stretch it to 17-15 after an ace from Zeynep Belgutay. The 14th tie of the set came off a UC San Diego service error that knotted the frame at 20. Tie number 15 came on a block from Hendrix and Pulsipher, and Pulsipher's seventh kill gave UCR a 22-21 edge before the hosts tied the match.
UCR outhit the Tritons .385 to .162 in set two.
Tanksley brought UCR to within three in set four with her seventh kill of the outing before she and Hendrix blocked another attack. The series was in the middle of a 4-0 Highlander run that preceded the margin never eclipsing three points in the frame's latter stages.
UC San Diego gave the Highlanders a free point with a service error at 19-20, but UCR couldn't recover at the set's end.
Pulsipher fittingly tied set four 10-10 with her 10th kill of the afternoon, giving the sophomore her second 10+ kill outing of the year and her first since September 12. UCR rode an 8-3 run into a Triton timeout at 12-10 Highlanders, making it a 9-3 run and 13-10 on the scoreboard with an ace from Maya Barron.
Pulsipher continued pounding the ball with her 11th kill to trigger a UC San Diego timeout up 20-15. UCR finally forced set five with a block from Belgutay and Casi Doll.
The visitors opened up a 7-1 lead in set five with Pulsipher's career high-tying 12th kill being the Highlanders' lone point. UCR responded with back-to-back points on two Triton attack errors before cutting the deficit in half at 8-4.
The Highlanders continue the home stand on Friday, October 9, hosting CSUN at 6:00 pm PT on ESPN+. Tickets are available now at www.GoHighlanders.com/tickets.
