STANFORD, Calif. - UC San Diego totaled a season-high 14.0 team blocks, but couldn't get anything going offensively in a 3-0 loss to Stanford University in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men's volleyball match Friday inside Maples Pavilion. Set scores were 25-21, 25-17 and 25-17.
UCSD dropped to 2-19 overall and 0-15 in the MPSF. Stanford, back in the national poll this week, stretched its season-best win streak to four, moving to 9-11 overall and 6-8 in league play while rounding out a season-long seven-match homestand. The Cardinal had won the year's first meeting, 3-1, in La Jolla on Feb. 14.
"It was a tough loss tonight," said UCSD head coach Kevin Ring. "I thought we had one of our best nights blocking. We came up with 14 stuff blocks in the three sets. Tanner Syftestad and Bryan Zhu did the bulk of the work at the net. Our struggles consisted really of our passing, our serve receive, and our offense. We just struggled to mount much of a consistent offensive threat when Stanford was serving to us."
Zhu (San Diego/Rancho Bernardo HS) and Syftestad, both in their second year of college but first season on the court for the Tritons, turned in personal and match highs of 10 and eight total blocks, respectively. Syftestad added five kills.
UCSD had both of its Bay Area natives in the starting lineup in outside hitters Ian Colbert of Belmont and Alec Flowers of Mountain View. Colbert put down a team-high nine kills. Tanner Howard had eight digs from his libero position, while setter José Carlos Martinez finished with 13 assists and seven digs.
Gabriel Vega, who earned both national and conference weekly honors after guiding the Cardinal to a pair of four-set upsets over then-fourth-ranked BYU last weekend, led all players with 10 kills. Setter James Shaw had 32 assists and eight digs. Stanford managed only 4.0 team blocks by comparison, but served eight aces.
UCSD tied the opening set at 5-5 on a nice kill by sophomore middle blocker Shayne Beamer, but that was the fifth and final tie score of the frame, as the host Cardinal tallied the next three, and then held an 11-6 advantage heading into the contest's first timeout. A third 3-0 run by Stanford in the game made it 18-11 and forced the Tritons' second timeout. To its credit, UCSD battled back to within just a pair at 22-20 behind a four-point stretch that featured a bad serve and three attack errors. The last two were due to a solo block by Zhu, and a combo job by Zhu and Syftestad. Stanford had to call its only timeout of the evening, before closing out the set.
The Tritons stormed out to a 4-0 lead in the second, this time by virtue of four awry attacks in succession by the home side. Three came with blocks, including the only two triple stuffs of the night, first via Syftestad, Zhu and Kirill Rudenko, and then with Colbert joining Syftestad and Zhu. The Cardinal produced the next three points, caught up at 5-5, and took its first lead at 6-5 on a Spencer Haly kill. Stanford gradually built to leads of 13-10 and 20-14 to cause UCSD's two timeouts for the set, and notched the last four, ending it on a combo block by Shaw and Conrad Kaminski.
Stanford then scored the first two points of the third frame, and led for the duration.
UCSD is idle from competition in the coming week, as the Tritons take winter quarter final exams, with multiple student-athletes in fact having a final on Saturday after returning to La Jolla late Friday night. UCSD is back in action with a two-match home series against No. 4 Hawai'i on Friday, March 27, and Saturday, March 28. First serve inside RIMAC Arena for both of those contests is set for 7 p.m.
"We have a break right now with final exams," concluded Ring. "We'll get back to work during our Spring Break, in preparation for Hawai'i."
Triton Notes: Alec Flowers earned his third straight start ... Freshman setter Cole Kendrick registered his first career ace ... The 14.0 total team blocks were UCSD's most since compiling 14.0 in a five-set loss at UC Irvine on March 31, 2013 ... Bryan Zhu's 10 total blocks were the most by a Triton in a single match in 2015 ... Zhu is the first Triton to reach double figures in blocks for a match since Cheyne Hayes (11) in a five-set triumph at USC on March 16, 2013 ... The 14.0 team blocks are UCSD's most in a three-set contest since accumulating 17.5 in another 3-0 loss at Stanford on March 10, 2007 ... Friday's 14.0 team blocks are thus the most for the Tritons in a three-set match in the rally-scoring era (since 2011) ... Zhu's total is likewise the most blocks in a three-set match since Gerald Houseman came up with 12 in that same match at Stanford, with his effort also a program first in terms of double-digit blocks in a three-set match in the rally-scoring era.
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