ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The 13th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team dropped the first two sets before rallying and falling short to No. 15 Lewis 30-26, 30-23, 20-30, 24-30, 19-17 on Saturday night in Romeoville, Illinois. UCSD had four opportunities in the fifth set to claim the win, but the Flyers held off the Tritons in each match point.
Frank Fritsch tallied a match-high 20 kills while
Jason Spangler added 17 kills. With the loss, UCSD drops to 7-14 while the Flyers improve to 12-6.
Phil Bannan led UCSD with 64 assists and added eight digs and four kills. Joel Davidson had 12 kills while Cyrus Kiani had 11 kills and a team-high seven blocks. Adrian Guthals added eight kills on .538 hitting. Andrew Kaban had a team-high 11 digs.
Lewis was led by Matt Gallik with 15 kills while Ian Karbiener had 12 kills.
In the first set, Lewis jumped out to an early lead at 16-9. UCSD pulled with 18-14, but Lewis quickly extended the lead to 24-18. UCSD cut the deficit down to 28-25 after a Guthals kill but Lewis took the set 30-26.
In the second set, UCSD took an early lead and the teams were tied at 15-15 at the mid-way point. Lewis quickly pulled in front 20-16. Lewis scored five of the last seven points to take the set at 30-23.
The Tritons scored 10 of the first 13 points in the third set to take a commanding 10-3 lead. Lewis would not pull closer than five points the rest of the way as Kiani sent down the final point at 30-20 UCSD.
In the fourth set, the Tritons took an 11-5 lead after a Spangler kill and forced the Flyers to take an early timeout. Lewis came back to tie the set at 17-17 after a triple-block. Davidson and Guthals followed with back-to-back kills to end the rally and keep UCSD in front 19-17. After Lewis pulled with 23-21, the Tritons outscored the Flyers 7-3 to close out the set at 30-24.
In the fifth set, the Tritons led 1-0 and then the Flyers held the lead until a Spangler and Kiani block put UCSD back on top by a 6-5 score. The Tritons led 8-7 after a Spangler kill and the teams changed sides.
With the scored tied at 9-9, Lewis regained the lead at 10-9 after a UCSD attack error and the Tritons called timeout. Out of the timeout, Guthals sent down a kill to retie the set at 10-10. UCSD regained the lead after a Fritsch kill and Lewis attack error put UCSD up 12-11 and Lewis called timeout.
Out of the timeout, Lewis committed another attack error and UCSD led by two. UCSD led 14-12 but Lewis got a kill and a block to tie the set at 14-14 and extend the set. UCSD would have a total of four chances at match point but Lewis responded with each point. Lewis had two chances at match point and took advantage with a kill to close out the set at 19-17.
UCSD is idle next week as the Tritons take a break for final exams. UCSD is back in action the following weekend when it hosts Stanford on March 26 in RIMAC Arena.
