LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 10th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team recovered from a sluggish second and third set to defeat No. 13 UC Santa Barbara 30-26, 21-30, 20-30, 30-21, 15-13 on Saturday night in RIMAC Arena. After winning the first set, the Tritons would score the first point of the second set and would trail the rest of the way in the second and third sets, and never led again until mid-way through the fourth set. Frank Fritsch led the Tritons with 21 kills while Will Ehrman added 16 kills and 10 digs. With the win, UCSD improves to 12-14, 8-13 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while UCSB drops to 8-18, 4-17 MPSF.
“We were out of sync in sets two and three, but we continued to fight hard,” said head coach Kevin Ring. “This was a playoff caliber match for us tonight... our guys know what they have to do and for us to get the job done, that is something to be proud of tonight,” said Ring.
UCSD also got nine kills each from Calvin Ross and Gerald Houseman. UCSD outblocked UCSB 16.5 ? 13.0. Houseman and Ross had eight blocks apiece while Phil Bannan had seven blocks, six digs and 56 assists.
UCSB was paced by Jeff Menzel and Cullen Irons with 17 kills apiece.
In the first set, UCSD hit at a .423 clip to just .148 for the Gauchos. With the score tied at 8-8, UCSD took the lead for good on a Fritsch kill, two blocks and a Houseman kill. UCSB would cut the deficit down to 21-19, but the Tritons quickly extended the lead to 24-20 on kills by Fritsch and Houseman. UCSB came as close as 28-26, but kills by Fritsch and Ehrman ended the set at 30-26 UCSD.
In the second set, UCSD scored the first point on a Jason Spangler kill, but the Gauchos scored 10 straight and never looked back. UCSD hit at a negative percentage in the set as UCSB took it 30-21.
The third set was only slightly better for the Tritons. After falling behind by five points early, UCSD rallied to come within 12-10 after a Fritsch kill. From that point, UCSB went on an 8-3 run to lead 20-13. The Gauchos would cruise to the 30-20 win.
The Tritons finally broke through in the fourth set, taking their first lead since 1-0 in the second set after a Bannan service ace to lead 13-12. Tied at 16-16, UCSD got a block by Houseman and Bannan and two kills by Fritsch put UCSD on top 24-20. The Tritons would quickly extend the lead to force the fifth set after Ehrman sent down the set ending kill at 30-21.
In the fifth set, the Tritons led 8-6 after a service error and the teams changed courts. After the Tritons upped the lead to 10-7, the Gauchos quickly came back to tie the set at 11-11 after a Menzel kill. A UCSD attack error gave UCSB the lead at 12-11 and UCSD called timeout. Spangler sent down a kill to tie the set at 12-12 and a UCSB attack error put the Tritons on top 13-12. After a UCSB timeout, Matt Thobe notched a kill to tie the set at 13-13. A UCSB service error set up match point and Ehrman sent down the match winner at 15-13.
UCSD is back in action on Friday, April 17 when it hosts Long Beach State at 7:00 p.m. in RIMAC Arena.
