LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 14th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team put a scare into No. 5 BYU before the Cougars won 26-30, 32-30, 30-28, 30-27 on Friday night in RIMAC Arena. On a night where
Jason Spangler became UCSD's all-time career kills leader, the Tritons took the first set and led 29-27 in the second set. BYU rallied and won the final three sets, all of which came down to the wire. Spangler finished the night with 14 kills, bringing his career total to 1,306 kills. With the loss, UCSD drops to 4-10, 1-8 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Cougars improve to 8-4, 6-3 MPSF.
Joel Davidson sent down a team-high 18 kills while Cyrus Kiani added 12 kills on .458 hitting. Phil Bannan had 44 assists and five digs, while Erik Sierks also saw action with nine assists and a block.
Andrew Kaban had a team-high 13 digs while Kiani's four blocks paced the Tritons.
BYU was led by Robb Stowell with 22 kills while Andrew Stewart added 18 kills. As a team, BYU had 80 kills to UCSD's 63 kills. BYU hurt themselves with 22 service errors, compared to 14 for UCSD.
Spangler's 14 kills allowed him to pass Jim Waller who had 1,301 kills from 2001-04.
In the first set, the Tritons scored the first two points on kills by Frank Fritsch and Kiani and never looked back. UCSD led all the way, with BYU coming within two points late in the set at 28-26. Two BYU errors closed the set in favor of UCSD at 30-26.
While their were 12 ties in the second set, UCSD pulled ahead 29-27 on a BYU error and Kiani kill. After a service error, BYU got a kill from Stowell and a block to swing the momentum and force its own set point. After side outs, BYU scored the final point on a block from its setter Reed Chilton at 32-30 BYU.
The third set featured a whopping 24 ties as neither team could pull away. A Calvin Ross kill pulled UCSD even at 28-28, but Stowell connected and another BYU block turned back the Tritons at 30-28 BYU.
BYU looked to be cruising in the fourth set, leading 18-12. UCSD put down a furious rally and would come within one point on four occasions, the first at 20-19. The Tritons were within 28-27, but BYU's Futi Tavana recorded back to back kills to end the match at 30-27 BYU.
UCSD and BYU return to the court on Saturday night for a rematch. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. in RIMAC Arena.
