STANFORD, Calif. - A season high .477 attack percentage helped the No. 12 UC San Diego men's volleyball team to an upset sweep over No. 4 Stanford, the reigning national champion, Friday at Maples Pavilion. Scores were 25-18, 30-28 and 25-16 as the Tritons took down the Cardinal for the first time since 2006.
The win put an end to Stanford's (8-3, 5-3 MPSF) 18 match winning streak on its home court. The Cardinal had not been swept at home since Apr. 17, 2009. It was the first time in 39 meetings that UCSD (6-8, 3-5 MPSF) had defeated Stanford at home.
UCSD put down 50 kills with just eight errors in 88 attacks. Five Tritons hit north of .400, led by senior middle blocker Calvin Ross, who went 7-1-10 for a .600 attack percentage. Outside Carl Eberts continued his solid play, contributing a match best 15 kills with four digs, a block and 15.5 points. Eberts has recorded double digit kill totals in five of his last six matches.
Junior opposite Shane Veiga had 11 kills, four digs and three blocks for the Tritons. Phil Bannan paced the offense with 42 assists. He also added five blocks as the Tritons out-blocked the Cardinal 10-3. Stanford was held to a .182 (41-23-99) attack percentage.
"This was definitely a big win for us tonight," said UCSD head coach Kevin Ring. "Everyone played well. To win on the road is hard enough but to beat a team of that caliber makes it even more impressive."
Stanford got 12 kills out of Brian Cook and 11 from Spencer McLachlin. McLachlin also had a match high eight digs.
Clearly, the second set was the key to the match. The Cardinal managed to hit a stellar .410 in the set considering they posted an .088 mark in the opening set and swung at a dreadful -.038 in the third frame. UC San Diego put up a .625 in the middle set with 21 kills and just one error in 32 swings.
Neither team had more than a three point lead in the second set. Stanford led all the way up until UCSD finally tied it 15-15 on a kill by Sebastian Brady. However, the Tritons fell behind again by as much as three until three straight points on a Brady kill, a Veiga kill and an ace by Bannan, gave UCSD the lead at 24-23. From then on, it was tied five times, the last at 28-28. Back-to-back kills from Ross on Bannan assists gave UCSD its first ever sweep over the Cardinal.
The last time UCSD had defeated Stanford was on Apr. 14, 2006, a 3-1 win in La Jolla.
"From start to finish, we played a heck of a match - we stepped on the gas and never let up," said Ring. "It was a great night."
UCSD has now upset three MPSF teams this season. On Jan. 12, the unranked Tritons won 3-1 at No. 7 UC Irvine. On Jan. 28, No. 15 UCSD edged 11th ranked Hawai'i in five sets at RIMAC.
The last time UCSD beat a team ranked higher than fourth? The Tritons did it twice in 2010, defeating No. 3 UCLA in February and No. 3 Pepperdine to close out the season in April.
The Tritons return home to host a pair of MPSF matches this coming week. On Friday, Feb. 18, No. 2 Long Beach State visits RIMAC Arena for a 7 p.m. match. UCSD then takes on Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Feb. 19, also at 7 p.m.
Tickets for all home matches area available at RIMAC Arena beginning one hour prior to first serve. UCSD students are admitted free with a valid ID.
- ucsdtritons.com -
