MALIBU, Calif. - For the first time in program history, the 12th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team earned a 33-31, 30-28, 23-30, 30-25 victory over No. 7 Pepperdine on Wednesday night at Firestone Fieldhouse. It was UCSD's first win over national power Pepperdine in 37 all-time matches. In the decisive fourth set, the Tritons ended the match on a 6-2 run, capped by
Will Ehrman's 13th kill of the night.
Frank Fritsch had 20 kills and
Jason Spangler added 19 kills for the Tritons. With the win, UCSD improves to 2-4, 1-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Waves drop to 1-3, 1-2 MPSF.
Also playing well for the Tritons included Calvin Ross with eight kills without an error and a .667 hitting percentage. Ross also had a team-high six blocks. Phil Bannan finished with 61 assists, six digs and four kills.
UCSD scored the first three points of the first set and got its largest lead at 24-20. Pepperdine used a late run to take its first lead of the set at 27-26. Pepperdine would have two chances at set point, only to be met with a Triton point. UCSD also had two set point opportunities, and it was the Tritons capitalizing on the second attempt. Ehrman sent down his seventh kill of the first set to give UCSD a 32-31 advantage and Bannan sent home the final kill for the 33-31 win.
In the second set, the teams would go back and forth exchanging points before the last tie came at 14-14 and a kill by Fritsch put UCSD up 15-14, a lead that would stand throughout. With UCSD leading 26-24, Fritsch sent down his 11th kill of the match and a Pepperdine error followed to push UCSD ahead 28-24. Pepperdine made one final rally and came within 29-28, but Ehrman ended the set with his ninth kill of the match at 30-28.
In the third set, Pepperdine scored four of the first five points to take a 4-1 lead and the Tritons called an early timeout. UCSD would pull within 15-13 on an Ehrman and Cyrus Kiani block, but the Waves would put another run together to retake an 18-13 lead. The Tritons would pull within three points at 22-19 after a Spangler kill, but from that point it was all Pepperdine as the Waves cruised to the 30-23 win.
In the fourth set, UCSD took a 10-5 lead and forced the Waves to call an early timeout. The Tritons would extend the lead to 16-11 after a Fritsch kill and Adrian Guthals solo block. Pepperdine trimmed the lead down to 17-15 and the Tritons would call their first timeout. The Waves would cut the Triton lead down to one point on several occasions, but the Tritons got consecutive points on a Bannan kill and Calvin Ross block to lead 27-24 and Pepperdine called its final timeout. UCSD would go on to score the final three points, ending the match on a 5-1 run, capped by Ehrman's 13th kill of the night at 30-25.
UCSD is back in action on Friday, January 22 when it travels to Los Angeles to take on No. 1 USC. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Galen Center.
