NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The 11th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team dropped its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener to No. 2 Cal State Northridge 30-24, 30-26, 30-28 on Wednesday night at the Matadome. The Tritons were outhit .320 - .174 and lost for the 35th consecutive time to CSUN. UCSD was led by Frank Fritsch with 16 kills on .333 hitting while Jason Spangler added seven kills. Cal State Northridge was paced by Theo Edwards with 14 kills. The loss drops UCSD to 1-3, 0-1 MPSF, while the Matadors improve to 4-1, 1-0 MPSF.

Also for the Tritons, Phil Bannan had 29 assists, five digs and four kills while Adrian Guthals had a team-high six blocks to go along with five kills on .625 hitting. Chase Frishman added a team-high eight digs.

In the first set, a kill by Fritsch tied the set at 16-16. CSUN scored the next four points and the Tritons would not get closer than three points the rest of the way. CSUN would go on to capture the first set by a 30-24 score.

In the second set, UCSD scored the first three points. With the score tied at 14-14, CSUN scored three straight points before the Tritons ended the run on a Spangler kill. The Tritons pulled within 25-22, but the Matadors quickly extended the lead and CSUN took the set 30-26.

The third set was the closest of the night as Bannan sent down a kill to tie it at 23-23. After CSUN took a two-point lead, the Tritons retied it on an ace by Spangler at 26-26. Later, Fritsch would send down a tying kill at 28-28. The Matadors would score the final points of the set on a kill and block at 30-28.

UCSD is back in action on Saturday night when it travels to UC Santa Barabara at 7:00 p.m. on the Gaucho campus.