RIVERSIDE, Calif. ? The UC San Diego men's volleyball team suffered a tough loss to Cal Baptist 30-28, 27-30, 32-30, 27-30, 22-20 on Tuesday night on the CBU campus. The Tritons rallied to win the fourth set and scored the first five points of the fifth set and took an 8-4 lead. The Lancers would tie the set at 8-8 and both teams would have their chances with match point. UCSD had three chances at match point, but it was the Lancers who put the game away on their fifth match point of the game. Jason Spangler led the Tritons with 21 kills on .327 hitting while Frank Fritsch added 15 kills.
Also for the Tritons, Adrian Guthals had 14 kills on .458 hitting while Phil Bannan had 56 assists. Eric Leserman recorded 11 digs.
After dropping the first set 30-28, the Tritons jumped out to a 16-7 lead in set two, and the Tritons took the second set 30-27 as they served up five aces in the set.
The Tritons looked to have the third set, leading by as many as six points at 24-18. UCSD led 26-22 after a Phil Bannan kill. With the Tritons leading 28-25, CBU rallied to tie the set at 28-28. The Tritons grabbed a 30-29 lead after a Fritsch kill, but the Lancers scored the final three points to put the set away at 32-20.
The fourth set began with CBU taking the lead and the Tritons getting it back at 13-12 after a Fritsch kill. From that point, CBU would open up a five point lead, the last at 24-19 before the Tritons made a late run. CBU committed three errors and Spangler sent down three kills and the Tritons had the set tied at 26-26. An ace by senior Aaron Hedland pushed the Tritons ahead 27-26. Tied at 27-27, Spangler recorded a kill and combined with teammate Adrian Guthals for a block to force set point. CBU hurt themselves again with another attack error and the Tritons had the comeback win in set four, 30-27, forcing the decisive fifth set.
UCSD scored the first five points of the fifth set as Calvin Ross was part of two block assists and Spangler and Joel Davidson had kills. Leading 8-4 after a Fritsch kill, CBU scored four straight and tied the set at 8-8. That tie would be the first of 13 ties in the set. CBU took its first lead at 16-15 before Fritsch retied the set at 16-16. UCSD would get its third set point when Bannan and Fritsch blocked a spike to put UCSD on top 18-17. Tied at 20-20, a UCSD service error, followed by a CBU kill would give the Lancers the win.
UCSD is back in action for its MPSF opener on Friday when it takes on Long Beach State in Long Beach.
