LA JOLLA, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's volleyball team was defeated in straight sets by Ball State University in its non-conference finale at RIMAC Arena on Saturday night. Game scores were 25-22, 25-22 and 25-20.
UCSD fell to 2-18. Ball State, from Muncie, Ind., and a member of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, improved to 10-8 in the aftermath of winning its fourth and final contest of a four-match road trip against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opposition. The Cardinals have taken all six meetings in the all-time series, with each one coming in La Jolla, though the sides had not faced off in over two decades, since the 1994 season.
Alec Flowers, a true freshman out of Mountain View making his second start at outside hitter in as many nights, led the Tritons for the second straight match with eight kills, and added a team-high eight digs. Kirill Rudenko contributed seven kills. José Carlos Martinez finished with 28 assists, five digs, one kill, one block, and one service ace.
Matt Sutherland had nine kills for Ball State to lead all players, alongside a pair of aces. Setter Hiago Garchet posted a double-double with 33 assists and a match-high 12 digs. Brendan Surane hit .700 with seven kills on 10 swings without an error, and got to a match-best three total blocks. Alex Pia served three aces.
Ball State got out to a 4-1 lead in the first set. UCSD caught up at 9-9, and used a five-point run to surge ahead, 14-11. Four straight by the Cardinals later turned a 15-13 deficit into a 17-15 edge, however, and the visitors held on late.
UCSD held its only lead of the second set at 15-14 when freshman Brad Weyand served his first career ace, but BSU tallied the next four points en route to the win.
The third set was tied a fourth and final time at 8-8 before the Cardinals scored six of the next seven and seemingly wrestled control at 14-9. The Tritons made one final push to extend the match with a 5-0 run of their own to close back to within one at 14-13. BSU called a timeout, however, and again produced six of the following seven points to put the result out of doubt at 20-14.
UCSD plays just one match in the week ahead, traveling to the Bay Area to take on the Stanford Cardinal on Friday, March 13. First serve inside Maples Pavilion is set for 5 p.m.
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