LA JOLLA, Calif. - Calvin Ross had a career high 17 kills and 19.5 points to lead the 15th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team to a 3-2 upset victory over No. 11 Hawai'i Friday at RIMAC Arena. Scores were 25-23, 16-25, 20-25, 25-23 and 15-8.
It was the second consecutive win and first five set match of the year for UCSD, which improved to 4-5 overall and upped its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) record to 2-2. Hawai'i dropped to 1-5 overall and 1-2 in the MPSF.
It was also the second upset win for the Tritons this season, who took down No. 7 UC Irvine in four sets on the road earlier in January.
Ross hit .577 from the middle with the 17 kills and only two errors in 26 attacks. He also added four blocks and a dig. Outside hitter Carl Eberts posted another solid performance with 13 kills, a team best nine digs, three assists, three blocks and a service ace. Phil Bannan, who set along with freshman Mike Brunsting, collected 32 assists, nine kills, four digs, two blocks and an ace. Brunsting played the best match of his young collegiate career with 26 assists, eight kills, eight digs, two blocks and a pair of aces. He swung at .429 (8-2-14).
The Warriors got a match high 27 kills out of Jonas Umlauft. Joshua Walker followed with 12 kills and Steven Hunt put down 11. Setter Nejc Zemljak tallied 51 assists and a match best 10 digs to complete a double-double. Brennan Dyer had five blocks as Hawai'i out-blocked UCSD 12.5 to 10.
The Tritons hit .266 (64-26-143) for the match and the Warriors finished at .325 (59-20-120). However, UCSD hit .571 in the fifth and deciding set to ice the win. The fourth set featured 16 tie scores and eight lead changes.
"We were tied 1-1 and in the third set after a timeout, I stressed the importance that we bring our confidence to the table and keep our composure," said UCSD head coach Kevin Ring. "It was a great team effort. Phil and Mike did a great job tightening things up."
UCSD entered the night with a 2-41 all-time record against Hawai'i. The two wins both came in 2009.
The two squads will meet again Saturday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. at RIMAC Arena. The match will be covered by Live Stats.
"Tomorrow, the score is zero zero," said Ring. "We need to make sure we bring our confidence and do a better job from the service line."
Tickets for all home matches are available at RIMAC Arena one hour prior to start time. Admission is free for UCSD students. For more ticket information, click here.
- ucsdtritons.com -
