LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 10th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team nearly pulled off its biggest upset of the season, dropping a 30-32, 30-20, 30-26, 28-30, 15-13 decision to No. 3 Pepperdine on Saturday night in RIMAC Arena. The Tritons, who entered the match 0-34 all-time against the Waves, took the first and fourth sets, forcing a decisive fifth set. The Tritons held a 9-8 lead in the fifth, but Pepperdine's Paul Carroll had four kills down the stretch to close out the match. UCSD was led by Jason Spangler with 24 kills and 11 digs, while Gerald Houseman added 19 kills on .464 hitting. With the loss, UCSD drops to 8-10, 4-9 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Waves improve to 12-2, 11-2 MPSF.
Pepperdine's Carroll had a match-high 26 kills, 16 digs and eight blocks. The Tritons played five sets against the Waves, despite being outblocked by a 22.0 ? 8.5 margin. UCSD served up 10 aces on the night, three apiece from Phil Bannan and Will Ehrman.
Frank Fritsch and Calvin Ross added 12 kills each, with Ross hitting at a .524 clip and five blocks. Eric Leserman led the Tritons with 13 digs. Bannan finished with 67 assists, nine digs, three aces, three kills and two blocks.
The Tritons had 25 kills as a team in the first set, hitting at a .378 clip. Pepperdine hit at a .438 clip in the first set. Spangler had 10 of his 24 kills in the first set, including the set ender at 32-30 UCSD.
After the second set was tied at 12-12, Pepperdine scored eight of the next nine points and never looked back. The Waves would cruise to the 30-20 win.
The third set began much like where set two ended, with the Waves in control. Pepperdine led 19-10 before UCSD put together a 10-4 run to pull within 23-20. The Tritons could never get it inside three points and the Waves took the set 30-26.
The Tritons did establish some momentum from the late stages of the set three loss and took it into set four where there would be a total of 15 ties in the set. The Tritons never let Pepperdine get out of their sight, trailing 10-8. UCSD's Ehrman served up back-to-back aces and the Tritons pulled ahead 12-10. With the scored tied at 25-25, Ross sent down consecutive kills and the Tritons were back ahead 27-25. An Erhman and Ross block gave the Tritons a 28-25 lead. Pepperdine pulled with 29-28, but Ross put the set away with a kill at 30-28, forcing set five.
In the fifth, the Tritons fell behind 7-4. A Spangler kill, Pepperdine error and Aaron Hedland ace pulled UCSD even at 7-7. The Tritons would take a 9-8 lead after a Fritsch ace. Trailing 10-9, Pepperdine went to Carroll for its kills, taking a 14-12 lead. Houseman and Bannan put up a block to pull UCSD within 14-13. The Waves went to Carroll again and the result was the same, a kill finishing the match at 15-13 Pepperdine.
UCSD is back in action next week when it hosts Hawaii on March 13-14 at 7:00 p.m. in RIMAC Arena.
