RIVERSIDE, Calif. - In a match-up of two men's volleyball programs both looking for their first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) victory of the 2015 season, host California Baptist University prevailed over UC San Diego, 3-0, at Van Dyne Gym on Friday night. Set scores were 25-21, 25-13 and 25-11.
UCSD is now 1-5 overall and 0-4 in the MPSF. CBU moves to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in league play.
“Cal Baptist proved to be the better team tonight,” said UCSD head coach Kevin Ring. “They got better with each set, and outplayed us just about in each phase of the game.”
The Tritons trotted out to a 5-1 advantage in the opening frame following a Kirill Rudenko ace, punctuating a three-point service rotation for the junior outside hitter. A Tanner Syftestad ace and Rudenko kill into the deep corner regained a four-point lead for UCSD at 9-5. CBU caught up at 13-13 before taking its first lead of the set at 14-13 at the end of a 4-0 run that included three straight Triton attack errors. Three more points in a row a short time later gave the Lancers an 18-16 edge and forced UCSD's second and final timeout. A combination block by Daniel Maurer and Jonathan Tuttle put the home side up 23-20, with another denial by Enrique Garcia and Giovanni LlinasRosa coming on set point for 25-21.
“We got off to a good start, and midway through game one, we had some chances that we didn't convert,” added Ring. “Our guys are working hard, but there's another level that we need to get to with our vision, and adjusting to the speed of the game. There are some athletic teams (that we are facing), who are running a fast offense. Our inexperience in knowing how to play in a match like this, to struggle, and how to pull yourself out of it, that is challenging as well.”
CBU rolled its momentum straight into the second game, turning the only tie score of the frame, at 1-1, quickly into a 9-1 bulge, with recovery virtually impossible from there for UCSD. Maurer served seven of those points, and the Lancers registered a pair of triple blocks during the stretch, both by Garcia, LlinasRosa and Tuttle.
The Tritons also fell behind early in the third, down 5-1 after tallying the first point on a Luke La Mont kill. Rocky DeLyon got the run going with a kill and served the next four, three of them aces.
Rudenko finished with a team-high eight kills on the night and one of two Triton service aces. La Mont provided four kills and two blocks off the bench. Fellow true freshman Tyler Bird collected seven digs to share the match high. Brad Weyand made his college debut.
DeLyon led the way for CBU, putting down eight kills on .636 hitting (8-1-11), to go along with three aces, five digs and three blocks. LlinasRosa and Tuttle added seven kills apiece. Tuttle also had three aces and seven blocks. Garcia proved formidable at the net as he wound up with 16 block assists.
The Lancers ultimately out-blocked UCSD, 22.0-3.0, and hit .368 to -.091.
“We definitely have some work to do, areas that we need to get better in,” concluded Ring. “We need to add a lot more pressure at the net with our blocking, and our serving can be better to get our opponent out of system. Our setting was fairly good tonight for the most part. Our attackers have to really work to get in position where they can dictate where they are hitting the ball. I thought we hit into the meat of the block too often. For a three-set match, I think they had 22 stuff blocks. They did a great job of blocking the ball, but certainly a lot of those swings were on us to do something a little bit better with.”
The Tritons return home in non-conference action against Princeton on Wednesday, Jan. 28. First serve inside RIMAC Arena is set for an earlier 6 p.m.
#TritonsRising
