LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 12th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team hit at a .518 clip and swept Princeton 30-24, 30-24, 30-25 on Wednesday night in RIMAC Arena. UCSD's .518 hitting percentage is the highest in school history since the move to the Division II level. Last year the Tritons reached a season-high clip of .469 against George Mason.
Phil Bannan and
Erik Sierks distributed the ball as
Cyrus Kiani had 12 kills and
Frank Fritsch added 11 kills. With the win, UCSD improves to 3-5, while Princeton drops to 0-3.
Bannan finished with 30 assists in just two sets as UCSD hit .565 and .577 in the first two sets, respectively. Sierks had 17 assists in his one set, as the Tritons closed with a .441 attack percentage in set three.
Will Ehrman saw action in the first two sets with eight kills on .636 hitting, while Jason Spangler added seven kills and seven digs. Spangler had a perfect reception percentage in 13 attempts.
Joel Davidson added seven kills on .545 hitting in two sets while Calvin Ross had six kills on .714 hitting.
In the first set, UCSD led 13-11 but went on a 12-6 run, capped by a Kiani and Bannan block to take a 25-17 lead. UCSD cruised to the victory as Ross sent down the final kill at 30-24.
In the second set, the final tie would come at 9-9. Two Princeton errors gave UCSD the lead but the Tigers would come back within 17-16. The Tritons would finish the set strongly by scoring six of the final nine points. Shane Veiga had the final kill at 30-24.
Princeton hung around in the third set and trailed 20-18. A Fritsch kill and Princeton error gave UCSD a four point lead, but Princeton came back within 26-23. UCSD would score the last three points of the set and match, the final coming on a Spangler kill at 30-25.
UCSD is back in action on Friday when it travels to Long Beach State for an MPSF match beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Long Beach.
