PROVO, Utah  ?The 10th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team returned to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action and lost to No. 9 BYU 30-24, 30-22, 30-21 on Friday night on the BYU campus.  With the loss, UCSD drops to 6-7, 2-6 MPSF while the Cougars improve to 6-6, 4-3 MPSF).  The Tritons were held to just .071 hitting as the Cougars were able to control the end of each set.  Frank Fritsch led the Tritons with 16 kills on .345 hitting, eight of the kills coming in the first set.  BYU was paced by Kent Tuttle with 12 kills.

After Fritsch's 16 kills, the Tritons were unable to get much help.  Phil Bannan had 30 assists and nine digs.  Jason Spangler added six kills while Adrian Guthals added five kills.

In the first set, BYU had the early lead, jumping out to a 20-13 advantage.  From that point, UCSD went on a 9-4 run to come within 24-22.  The Tritons cut the deficit down to two points on two occasions, the last at 26-24 after Frank Fritsch's eighth kill of the set.  BYU would score the last four points of the set to take the first 30-24.

The Cougars controlled the second set, leading by as many as nine before taking the set by a 30-22 score.

UCSD trailed in the early parts of set three but gained its first lead after consecutive block assists by Will Ehrman and Adrian Guthals to lead 15-14.  With the Tritons trailing 18-17, BYU went on an 8-1 run and upped its lead to 26-18.  The Cougars cruised to the 30-21 win.

UCSD and BYU return to the court tomorrow night with a 6:00 p.m. PT first serve.