SANTA BARBARA, Calif. ?The 15th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team took an early lead and held off No. 10 UC Santa Barbara 30-22, 30-24, 30-32, 22-30, 15-13 on Friday night at the Thunderdome. The Tritons had a season-high 17.5 team blocks as Adrian Guthals had a team-high nine blocks to go with his 10 kills. Frank Fritsch sent down 23 kills, one of five Tritons to record at least 10 kills. Phil Bannan had 64 assists, eight digs and nine blocks while Eric Leserman had a season-high 17 digs. With the win, the Tritons improve to 4-5, 2-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Gauchos drop to 3-6, 1-5 MPSF.
Will Ehrman added 14 kills for UCSD while Calvin Ross had 13 kills on .500 hitting. Jason Spangler and Guthals had 10 kills apiece.
In the first set, the Tritons jumped out to a five-point lead at 15-10 after a Guthals kill. UC Santa Barbara would come back to cut the lead down to 20-17 before Calvin Ross and Will Ehrman sent down kills to push the lead up to 22-17. Leading 24-20, the Tritons would close the set on a 6-2 run, scoring their last three points on block assists by Guthals and Bannan at 30-22.
The Tritons got a big set from their middles in the second as UCSD jumped out to the 24-17 lead after a Ross block. UCSB came back within 24-20 before a Ross kill and UCSB error put UCSD on top 27-22. UCSB made one last push, coming within 27-24, but a Fritsch kill, followed by a Spangler block forced set point. The Tritons would earn the set two victory 30-24 on another block.
The third set began to look like a UCSD sweep as the Tritons took the 17-11 lead after a Fritsch block. UCSD led 20-14 before the Gauchos rallied to tie the set at 23-23. From that point, the teams would tie several times, the last at 30-30, the Gauchos recorded the final point on a block and forced the fourth game with the third set win at 32-30.
The fourth set was all UCSB as the Guachos opened up a 25-18 lead and never looked back. UCSB took the set 30-22.
In the decisive fifth set, the Tritons used an early 4-0 run on Fritsch serving as UCSD took a 9-6 lead. After a Bannan kill and solo block, the Tritons were ahead 12-8. With the Tritons ahead 14-10, UCSB would not go away, scoring three straight points to come within 14-13. The Tritons would set Ross who would put down the match ender at 15-13.
UCSD is back in action tomorrow night when it travels to No. 4 Cal State Northridge. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Matadome.
