LOS ANGELES, Calif. ? The UC San Diego men's volleyball team upset No. 14 USC 31-29, 30-24, 26-30, 30-27 in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Friday night at the Galen Center. While the Trojans still lead the all-time series 30-4, the Tritons have won four of the last nine meetings against the Men of Troy. The Tritons called on their freshmen as Will Ehrman recorded a game-high 22 kills. Jason Spangler and Adrian Guthals added 13 and 12 kills, respectively. With the win, UCSD improves to 1-2, 1-2 MPSF, while the Trojans drop to 2-4, 1-2 MPSF.
USC and UCSD were even for much of the first game as Stephen Shaw put down a kill to put the Tritons ahead 30-29. On the next point, Spangler and Shaw then recorded the big block to win the critical first game 31-29.
UCSD continued its momentum after the big block into game two as the Tritons took a 15-5 lead on a block assist by Guthals and Ehrman. The Trojans stormed back to come within four points at 24-20 before UCSD pulled away and won the game 30-24.
UCSD led for the early stages of game three, before USC put a run together and tied the game at 20-20 and then would score the next three points to lead by three. After the Tritons cut it down to 24-22, USC then scored six of the last eight points to take the game 30-26.
The Tritons took a 10-4 lead in game four, only to see the Trojans comeback and tie it at 13-13 after a Triton error. UCSD then scored three straight on two Guthals kills and an Ehrman kill to lead 16-13. USC would comeback within 22-21, but the Tritons then scored three points to gain control at 25-21. The Trojans would get no closer than three points the rest of the way, winning 30-27 on Ehrman's 22nd kill of the night.
UCSD is back in action on Tuesday, January 23 in a non-conference match against Hope International. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. in RIMAC Arena.
