LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's volleyball team nearly pulled off the upset against the top-ranked NAIA school in Cal Baptist on Wednesday night, losing 26-30, 25-30, 32-30, 30-27, 12-15 in RIMAC Arena.  The Tritons lost the first two games and slowly regained momentum with a thrilling 32-30 game three win.  UCSD was down 21-18 in game four, but quickly turned it around and won 30-27.  UCSD was ahead early in the fifth game, but could not pull the upset, losing 15-12.  Chris Sayers led the Tritons with 19 kills and Stephen Shaw and Mike Reuter had 14 apiece.  CBU was paced by Shamsu Awudu with a match-high 24 kills.

While the Tritons lost game one 30-26, the game was much closer as UCSD led 22-18.  CBU rallied off four straight to tie the game at 22-22.  The Tritons then fell behind and came back within 26-27, but CBU scored the final three points for the game one win.

The Tritons had their best hitting game in the second, as they hit .348, but was outdone by CBU's .469.  The Lancers cruised to the 30-25 win.

In game three, UCSD fell behind 20-17.  The Tritons remained three points behind through the point of 26-23 CBU.  UCSD's Reuter and John Mark Wendler put kills together, along with a CBU service error and the score was tied at 26-26.  Tied at 30-30, Shaw and Sayers connected on back-to-back kills to give the Tritons the game three win 32-30.

UCSD and CBU stayed close in game four until the Lancers took a 21-18 lead on a UCSD attack error.  The Tritons scored the next four points to lead 22-21.  The game would be tied the final time at 25-25 as the Tritons took the lead up to 29-26 on a CBU attack error.  UCSD had forced game five on the final CBU attack error of the game 30-27. 

In game five, UCSD held an early 4-2 lead on a Reuter kill.  CBU came back with two straight points and would tie the game at 5-5.  CBU held an 8-5 lead when the teams exchanged courts.  CBU upped its lead to 10-6 before the Tritons pulled within two at 10-8 on a Shaw kill.  UCSD pulled as close as 12-11 on another Shaw kill.  Mike Reuter's kill would later bring UCSD within 12-13, but two kills by Urs Gunthor put the game away for CBU 15-12.

UCSD is back in action on Friday when it plays at Hawai'i.  First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. Hawai'i time.