SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The 11th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team dropped a 26-30, 30-24, 27-30, 30-27, 15-13 decision to No. 14 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night on the Gaucho campus. It was the fourth consecutive time the schools went five sets, but this was the first time UCSB came out on top in those matches. Jeff Menzel sent down an impressive 25 kills to pace the Gauchos. UCSD was led by
Jason Spangler with 15 kills while
Cyrus Kiani added 12 kills on .625 hitting. With the loss, the Tritons drop to 1-4, 0-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Gauchos improve to 1-4, 1-1 MPSF.
Spangler also added seven digs to his 15 kills while Phil Bannan had a double double with 52 assists and 10 digs. Frank Fritsch added 11 kills and Joel Davidson had nine kills.
In addition to UCSB's Menzel with 25 kills, Cullen Irons added 14 kills.
There were 33 ties in the match, with eight ties coming in the first set. UCSD fell behind 3-0 but quickly took the lead 8-7 on a Kiani kill. The Tritons went back and forth and finally pulled away at 27-23 on a UCSB error. Adrian Guthals sent down the final kill at 30-26.
UCSB took a quick 11-6 lead in the second set before the Tritons pulled within 12-10. UCSB again pulled away at 18-13 and 21-14. The Gauchos would cruise to the 30-24 win.
The Tritons took a 10-6 lead in the third set on a Fritsch and Calvin Ross block. UCSB would rally to tie the set at 18-18 before UCSD scored four straight points capped by a Ross ace to lead 22-18. UCSB would make one last push and tie it at 27-27, but two UCSB errors and a Ross kill put UCSD ahead two sets to one.
After an 11-11 tie in the fourth, the Gauchos took control, leading 20-15. UCSD came within one point at 25-24, but the Gauchos pulled away for the 30-27 win.
UCSD led 9-8 in the fifth, but could not overcome a .095 attack percentage as UCSB hit at a .316 clip. The Gauchos would pull out the victory 15-13 in the fifth.
UCSD is back in action next week when it travels to Pepperdine on Wednesday, January 20 at 7:00 p.m. in Malibu.
