ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The 13th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team cruised to a 30-26, 30-24, 30-22 sweep against No. 15 Lewis on Friday night at Neil Carey Arena. The Tritons outhit the Flyers .358 - .229 as five different Tritons recorded at least eight kills.
Phil Bannan finished the night with 45 assists and three aces.
Jason Spangler and
Frank Fritsch led UCSD with 12 kills apiece. With the win, UCSD improves to 7-13 while Lewis drops to 11-6. The teams will square off in a rematch on Saturday night with a 7:00 p.m. first serve.
For the Tritons, Cyrus Kiani added 11 kills on .667 hitting. Kiani also added a team-high six blocks. Adrian Guthals finished with nine kills and Carl Eberts added eight kills.
Andrew Kaban led the Tritons with 10 digs and UCSD out-blocked the Flyers 10.5 - 8.5.
Lewis was led by Ian Karbiener with 11 kills.
The first set was the closest of the night with seven ties and one lead change. The final tie came early at 8-8 before a Guthals kill and Spangler ace gave the Tritons a two point lead. UCSD upped the lead to 21-14 after back-to-back Spangler kills. UCSD led by as many as eight points and cruised to the 30-26 win.
In the second set with the score tied at 8-8, UCSD scored eight of the next 11 points after consecutive Spangler kills and led 16-11. Lewis would get no closer than 16-13 and later 29-26, as UCSD led by eight points in the set and took the set at 30-26.
UCSD hit at a .455 clip in the third set while holding Lewis to a .077 average. Bannan served up back-to-back aces to begin the set and the Tritons would never trail. A block by Eberts and Kiani gave the Tritons a 10-3 lead and UCSD led by at least five points throughout the final set. Fritsch sent down the final kill at 30-22.
