SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Junior opposite Shane Veiga of the UC San Diego men's volleyball team has been quite a leader so far during the young season as he's topped the Tritons in kills in all three of their matches. He helped UCSD to its first win of the year Saturday with a match-high 15 kills in a four-set victory over Cal Baptist in the seventh-place match of the 47th Annual Gaucho Invitational.
Scores of the match went 16-25, 25-15, 25-22 and 25-16. The Tritons improved to 1-2 on the season, while the Lancers, who won the 2010 NAIA national crown, dropped to 1-3.
No. 5 BYU captured the tournament title with a 3-1 victory over No. 10 UC Santa Barbara in the championship match.
Coming into the season. Veiga had a total of 22 career kills - 12 in 2010 and 10 in 2008. On Friday at the tournament, he totaled 14 kills against No. 9 UCLA and 19 vs. No. 12 Cal State Northridge. Against Cal Baptist, Veiga posted a solid .367 (15-4-30) attack percentage while adding four digs and four blocks.
UCSD bested Cal Baptist in just about every statistical category, most noticeably in hitting. The Tritons finished at .320 (49-18-97) while the Lancers hit a lackluster .206 (43-23-97).
The Tritons came out flat in the opening set, losing by nine points. They hit .000 (6-6-22) in the frame and Cal Baptist countered at a .409 (13-4-22) clip. However, turnaround may be an understatement in describing the second set. UC San Diego massively upped its attack percentage to .636 (16-2-22) and crushed the Lancers by 10 points.
UCSD freshman outside hitter Nick Iorfino had 10 kills and three digs, while senior setter Phil Bannan, who collected the 3,500th assist of his career Friday, led all players with 42 assists. Bannan had an all around solid match with two kills, three aces, a dig and two blocks. Sophomore outside Carl Eberts had nine kills and a match-high nine digs to go along with an assist, two aces and a pair of blocks.
Cal Baptist was led by Levi Cabral and Sebastian Steigmeyier with 11 kills apiece. Daniel Freitas had six digs.
UCSD out-blocked CBU 9-6.
It's the second straight season that UCSD has finished seventh at the tournament. In 2010, the Tritons defeated the Gauchos in five sets to take seventh.
The Tritons jump right into Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Wednesday, Jan. 12 at UC Irvine (6 p.m.). The home season opens on Friday, Jan. 14 as UCSD welcomes UC Santa Barbara to RIMAC Arena for a 7 p.m. match.
Tickets are available at the door. As always, UCSD students are admitted free to home games with a valid school ID. For more ticket information, please click here.
First Round Results - Friday, Jan. 7
No. 10 UC Santa Barbara 3, No. 12 Cal State Northridge 0 (25-16,25-21,25-17)
No. 9 UCLA 3, UC San Diego 1 (25-22, 25-12, 23-25, 25-15)
No. 5 BYU 3, Cal Baptist 1 (16-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-22)
No. 11 Long Beach State 3, No. 2 UC Irvine 1 (12-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-21)
Second Round Results - Friday, Jan. 7
UCSB 3, UCLA 1 (25-13, 23-25, 27-25, 25-23)
BYU 3, LBSU 0 (25-17, 25-18, 25-22)
CSUN 3, UCSD 1 (29-31, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18)
UCI 3, CBU 1 (26-24, 19-25, 28-26, 25-23)
Final Round Match-Ups - Saturday, Jan. 8
7th/8th place match: UCSD 3, CBU 1 (16-25, 25-15, 25-22, 22-16)
5th/6th place match: UCI 3, CSUN 1 (25-17, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20)
3rd/4th place match: UCLA 3, LBSU 2 (17-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-16, 15-13)
Championship match: BYU 3, UCSB 1 (15-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-19)
Tournament MVP
Taylor Sander, BYU
All-Tournament Team
Jim Baughman, LBSU
Joe Kauliakamoa, BYU
Andy McGuire, UCSB
Taylor Sander, BYU
Alex Scattareggia, UCLA
Scott Slaughter, UCSB
Futi Tavana, BYU
