IRVINE, Calif.  ?The UC San Diego men's volleyball team was overmatched on Wednesday night, losing in straight sets to No. 5 UC Irvine 30-24, 30-22, 30-19 at Crawford Court in Irvine.  The Tritons defeated the 2007 National Champion Anteaters twice in 2008 but could not keep pace on Wednesday.  The Anteaters hit at a .517 clip, compared to just .218 hitting for the Tritons.  UCSD was led by Joel Davidson with 10 kills on .353 hitting.  Calvin Ross added eight kills on .727 hitting.  UCI was led by Jon Steller with 16 kills.  The loss drops UCSD to 1-3, 0-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while UC Irvine improves to 5-2, 2-1 MPSF.

The first set turned out to be the closest of the night for the Tritons as UCSD pulled within 17-15 after a Will Ehrman kill.  Ehrman would finish the night with six kills and tied teammate Eric Leserman with a team-high five digs.  A Davidson kill pulled UCSD within 17-15 but UCI quickly pulled ahead at 26-20 and took the set at 30-24. 

UCI took command early and jumped out to a 22-16 lead.  The Anteaters would cruise to the set two win at 30-22.

In the third set, the Tritons and Anteaters were tied at 6-6.  UCI went on a 7-0 run to take a 13-7 lead and the Tritons could never recover as UCI went on to win set three 30-19.

UCSD is back in action on Friday night when it travels to UCLA.  First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. in Los Angeles.