LA JOLLA, Calif. - Carl Eberts recorded his first career
double-double and the No. 15 UC San Diego men's volleyball team hit a
season high .333 to defeat non-conference opponent Princeton Wednesday
at RIMAC Arena. The Tritons have won the last 11 meetings between the
two teams.
Scores were 25-21, 25-23 and 25-16 as UCSD improved to 3-5 and snapped its three match losing streak. It was Princeton's first match of the season. The Tigers will also play at Cal Baptist and Hope International, both opponents of UCSD this year, during their West Coast swing.
Not only did Eberts lead all players with 14 kills and 12 digs, he hit .550 with just three errors in 20 attacks. The sophomore outside hitter has been solid so far this season and set new career highs with 15 kills and 15.5 points in an upset win at No. 7 UC Irvine on Jan. 12.
Five Tritons chipped in with five kills apiece, including Phil Bannan, Joel Davidson, Calvin Ross, Fred Stahl and Shane Veiga. Bannan paced UCSD to its best attack percentage of the year with 29 assists. He also had four aces, three digs and two blocks.
As a team, UC San Diego had 45 kills and 17 errors in 84 swings for its .333 attack percentage. The team's previous high this year was .320 (49-18-97) in a win over Cal Baptist. The last time UCSD hit better than .333 was on Apr. 10, 2010 when it swung at .412 (63-14-119) against UCLA.
Princeton, which hit .149 (25-14-74), was led by Vincent Tuminelli with seven kills, two aces, six digs and a block. Keenan McCarthy finished with six kills, two digs and three blocks. The Tigers out-blocked the Tritons 7-5.
"We knew it was their first match and we've been able to see what we can do after already playing a couple of matches," said UCSD head coach Kevin Ring. "I thought we were able to put some pressure on their attack and take advantage of the free balls."
In the first set, the score stayed close until UCSD tallied three unanswered points to take an 18-13 lead. At 20-14, Princeton came back with four straight points to get within two at 20-18, but that's as close as the Tigers would get. Bannan and Ross combined for nine kills and 11 points in the set.
UCSD jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set and held an advantage until Princeton rallied and tied it at 19-19 on a kill by Michael Dye. The Tigers took their first lead on the next play as UC San Diego committed an attack error. After a UCSD timeout, the Tritons scored twice on two Princeton errors - one from the service line and the other on attack - to take a 21-20 lead. The teams traded points and at 23-23, UCSD closed it out with back-to-back kills from Eberts and Davidson.
The third set was all UCSD as the Tritons hit .400 (16-6-25), its highest total of the night. Eberts and Stahl each had five kills in the frame while Bannan had 12 assists and a pair of aces. Again, the Tritons took an early 3-0 lead, but this time they kept the pressure on and quickly led 10-2. Later, the lead was 10 as UCSD went up 20-10 on four straight points. Stahl, a freshman middle blocker, finished the match with a kill.
"Phil got it done tonight - from the service line, blocking, passing - he did it all," said Ring.
The Tritons hold a commanding 12-4 lead in the all-time series against the Tigers. Princeton's last victory against UCSD came on Jan. 28, 1997.
UC San Diego, in the midst of a five match home stand, hosts No. 11 Hawai'i on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 28 and 29. Both matches are scheduled for a 7 p.m. first serve at RIMAC Arena. A live video stream of Friday's match will be available here and both matches will be covered by Live Stats.
Tickets for all home matches are available at RIMAC Arena one hour prior to the start time. UCSD students are admitted free. For more ticket information, please click here.
- ucsdtritons.com -
