PHOENIX - UC San Diego rallied from a two-set hole for a gutsy road victory over Grand Canyon University, 3-2, in non-conference men's volleyball action Saturday afternoon at Antelope Gymnasium. Set scores were 18-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22 and 15-10.
The result marked a five-set triumph for UCSD (1-1) over GCU (0-2) for the second time in as many years. The Tritons had defeated the Lopes 3-2 at home for their first win of 2014 last Feb. 28 after 15 straight losses. This year, they needed just two matches for their first victory of the season. UCSD now leads the all-time series, 3-1. It was a second straight five-set loss against a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) foe for Grand Canyon, after its opener with No. 7 USC Wednesday at home.
In the decisive fifth, UCSD notched the opening point on a Shayne Beamer kill, and the sides traded points until successive Tanner Syftestad kills and a GCU ball-handling error gave the Tritons a 5-2 edge. They took advantage of two Ryan Mather attack miscues for an 8-3 cushion. The Lopes got to within 10-7 before a Kirill Rudenko kill and another bad GCU attack kept UCSD in control at 12-7. Syftestad put down kills for the final two points as the Tritons completed the road comeback.
“It shows a great deal of maturity with a very young team, to be able to come back and win in five after losing the first two sets,” said a well-pleased UCSD head coach Kevin Ring. “Too often, you see a team down 2-0 come back to tie it 2-2 in sets, and just kind of be satisfied with having gotten themselves back in the match. They almost forget to use their momentum in game five and finish it off. We did a great job in set five today, hitting .368 with nine kills, four by Tanner Syftestad.”
The host Lopes jumped out to a 4-0 advantage in the first set, with the last three of those points coming on combination blocks. Ashton King was involved in all three. Rudenko's kill finally put the Tritons on the board at 4-1. A Rudenko service ace and Ian Colbert kill knotted the score at 5-5. Back-to-back Beamer kills, the latter one on the sophomore middle's own serve, gave UCSD its first lead of the afternoon at 7-6. A run of three straight points gave GCU a six-point cushion at 20-14, forcing UCSD's second and final timeout. The stretch grew to five in a row, to 22-14, and the Lopes won the set, 25-18, out-blocking the Tritons, 6.0-0.0.
The second set began once again with GCU in the ascendency, the home side going up 3-0 on a pair of kills and a Gerrard Lipscombe ace. UCSD registered its first block of the match when Colbert and Mathew Schnitzer combined to stuff Ryan Mather to trim the deficit to one at 5-4. From there, four successive points, ending with two aces by Tanner Maxwell, gave the Lopes a 9-4 lead as the Tritons called for time. A solo block by Beamer on King ignited a 3-0 UCSD run, with Rudenko providing a couple of kills, to make it 13-11 in favor of the Antelopes. Grand Canyon tallied the next three, however, and went on to the 25-20 set victory.
Trailing from the 4-4 mark of the third set, UCSD leveled the score again at 12-12, getting consecutive points from kills by Beamer and Rudenko, and a GCU attack error. The teams traded points one by one, with the Tritons unable to grab the upper hand until another awry Lopes attack gave them an 18-17 edge. A stuff block by Beamer and Syftestad forced GCU's first timeout of the contest, and Colbert extended to 20-17 with a kill. Though Grand Canyon managed to tie it up again it 22-22, kills by Syftestad, and Colbert off a Syftestad assist, pushed UCSD to set point at 24-22. Schnitzer's kill gave the Tritons the frame, 25-23.
A triple block by Colbert, Schnitzer and José Carlos Martinez, UCSD's first of 2015, gave the Tritons a 6-3 advantage early in the fourth. A combo block by Schnitzer and Martinez gave them a fifth straight point to break a 3-3 tie, making it 8-3. The Lopes caught up at 15-15 following three points in a row. Later down 22-21, Luke La Mont's first college ace and a solo Syftestad block put the Tritons on top, 23-22. UCSD ultimately scored the last five in the frame, with another stuff block by Schnitzer and Syftestad preceding a second deep ace by La Mont on set point, 25-22.
Four Tritons completed the match in double-figure kills, led by Beamer and Syftestad, each with a career-high 14. Beamer's came on .458 hitting (14-3-24), to go along with three blocks. Syftestad reached double digits for the second straight contest to begin his UCSD career, and added eight digs, four total blocks, two assists and an ace. Rudenko had 11 kills with a career-high seven digs, and Colbert contributed career bests of 10 kills and eight digs.
Schnitzer compiled nine kills and matched his career high of five total blocks to pace the Tritons in that category. Martinez provided 35 assists, three blocks, two digs, and his first collegiate service ace to begin the fourth frame.
Tyler Bird had a match-high 17 digs from his libero position. Fellow true freshman Cole Kendrick earned his first collegiate start at the setter spot, and collected 16 assists. Mac Egan made his first collegiate appearance late in the third set.
“I thought one key to the match was that we were good from the service line,” added Ring. “We missed 13, which is pretty good for five games, with seven aces. Also, after not blocking very well in the first couple of games, we picked some blocks up. That really made a difference. (Grand Canyon) started making more attack errors after we came up with some of our stuff blocks.”
The Tritons conclude a season-long four-match road stretch to start the 2015 campaign in the week ahead, beginning MPSF play at No. 12 Long Beach State on Wednesday, Jan. 14, before heading to Northridge to take on No. 13 CSUN on Friday, Jan. 16. Both first serves are set for 7 p.m.
“(This was a) pretty big win for a young team,” concluded Ring. “It's always nice to get (win number) one. Now we've got to go and get (win number) two.”
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