After Punching Ticket for Tritons, Castaneda Collects CCAA Player of the Week
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Powering UC San Diego to a CCAA tournament berth, sophomore Trinity Castaneda has been tabbed as the CCAA Player of the Week for Nov. 4-10.
The outside hitter from Indio compiled 30 kills on .519 hitting in a week where the Tritons made short work of their opponents, sweeping No. 24 Cal State LA and Cal State Dominguez Hills.
The win against the nationally-ranked Golden Eagles secured her squad’s entry into the postseason bracket in their 20th and final year competing in the CCAA before transitioning to the Big West.
Castaneda tallied a match-high 16 kills, one short of her career best, against Cal State LA, swinging to a .625 hitting percentage in the pivotal match. The next night, she added 14 kills, three blocks and a pair of digs against the Toros as the Tritons now jockey for postseason position with their ticket punched.
The Tritons have but one match remaining on their regular-season slate - a date against Cal State San Marcos Saturday at 5 p.m. While the Cougars can’t catch the Tritons in the overall standings, tournament seeding is based on overall conference winning percentage rather than just North/South divisional designations.
Heading into the final weekend preceding the tournament, UC San Diego is in third overall as the third-place South squad, with Cal State San Marcos tied in a battle for fifth as both teams have guaranteed a place in the eight-team bracket. 2019’s tournament is slated to take place Nov. 21-23 at the home of No. 1 seed and No. 1 team in the nation for the ninth-straight week, Cal State San Bernardino.
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Also nominated:
Eliza Cannon, Cal State East Bay
Stephanie Doak, Cal State San Bernardino
Jessica Haynie, San Francisco State
Maddy Newcombe, Cal State San Marcos