LA JOLLA, Calif. - UC San Diego rallied from 2-1 down to win a five-set thriller over Princeton University in non-conference men's volleyball at RIMAC Arena on Wednesday night. Scores were 28-26, 24-26, 12-25, 25-22 and 15-13.
With a second straight victory, UCSD moved to 3-5 overall. Princeton remained winless at 0-5. The Tritons have won two in a row for the first time since late in the 2014 campaign (April 5-11), and now have eclipsed their victory total from a 2-26 campaign in 2015.
The contest marked the first time this season in which UCSD played anything more than a three-set affair, and also 11th-year head coach Kevin Ring's 75th win in charge at his alma mater.
Ian Colbert produced his second successive double-double, the first two of his college days, with career bests of 19 kills and 11 digs. Fellow junior outside hitter Josh Schmidt joined him in double-figure kills with 10. The transfer from Irvine Valley College in fact only made his Triton debut to begin the fourth with his team down a set, and provided a huge spark with seven kills and a big solo block in that fourth frame, and three more kills in the decider. Both players hit over .400, with Colbert at .447 (19-2-38) and Schmidt at an even .400 (10-2-20).
Senior libero Tanner Howard collected a team- and season-high 12 digs. Sophomore setter Milosh Stojcic just missed his second straight double-double, finishing with a career-high 44 assists, nine digs, and three total blocks. Sophomore Alec Flowers had seven kills and a career-best four blocks, with his partner in the middle, junior Shayne Beamer, adding six kills and three blocks. Kirill Rudenko had eight kills.
After putting down kills on two of UCSD's first four points of the fifth set for a 4-3 Triton edge, Schmidt came up with his third of the frame for an 11-11 deadlock. Colbert followed with a thunderous kill for 12-11. Coming out of the Princeton timeout, Tiger sophomore Kendall Ratter (Encinitas/La Costa Canyon HS) saw his attack fall outside the court parameters for an error, meaning a 13-11 deficit and a second timeout for his side. A Stearns error brought it to match point, and fittingly, Colbert slammed his 19th kill off the Stojcic set to cap an exhilarating matchup.
UCSD had extended to that fifth in no small part due to Schmidt's heroics in the previous frame. The second of back-to-back kills early, off the nifty crosscourt assist from freshman Nathan Thalken, punctuated a rousing, lengthy rally and pulled the Tritons to within one at 7-6. Beamer sent back Billy Andrew for his second solo block on the ensuing point to pull level at 7-7. It was a 6-0 run in all for the hosts, through a Princeton timeout, which left them in the ascendancy, 10-7. Thalken later rolled a service ace in for 19-17 and forced the Tigers' other timeout. Schmidt's big solo stuff came right after, with a towering Beamer kill making it 22-19 moments later. Colbert pulled out his second ace after his own kill led to set point.
Earlier, it looked as if the Tritons had the match won late in the second, when Flowers went agonizingly wide with an attack that would have given his team an almost insurmountable 20-14 bulge, and then it appeared that UCSD had lost it, based on Princeton's improbable rally to take that stanza, ahead of a comprehensive 25-12 Tiger rout in the third.
Late in the opening frame, Stojcic emphatically rejected Ratter by himself to close to within two at 20-18 in the midst of a four-point run by the Tritons that evaporated most of a 20-15 deficit. Howard's tough dig kept a subsequent point alive for Flowers to immediately spike and manufacture a 23-23 tie. Rudenko then smartly tipped his attack off the block near the net for a kill and 24-23 lead. The senior's lone ace came on UCSD's fourth set point.
Beamer's first solo stuff had UCSD on top by the score of 4-2 early in the second. After an initial attack remained on his side, Colbert asked for the ball again, and as Stojcic obliged, got the kill to knot it at 10-10. Rudenko's spike went off the head of a Tiger and down for a 12-11 edge. Right after Flowers had gone wide to keep Princeton in it, Stojcic dumped it and Ratter hit it out for 21-15, but that's when the visitors began their furious comeback, tallying the next six en route to the set win.
Princeton senior Devin Stearns led all players with an incredible 33 kills, that on solid .410 (33-8-61) hitting, and also had 11 digs for a double-double. Junior setter Chris Kennedy handed out 55 assists and got his hands to a match-best 16 digs. Zach Shaw (12) and Ratter (10) joined Stearns in double-figure kills, with local product Ratter adding nine digs, three aces, three assists and two blocks. The Tigers had a pair of triple blocks, in the first and third frames, Andrew and Shaw involved in two.
The contest featured a total of 43 tie scores, including 14 in the second and 10 in the fifth, alongside 16 lead changes. Princeton out-hit UCSD, .291-.243.
UCSD flies to Honolulu, Hawaii, on Thursday, Jan. 28, for a two-match Mountain Pacific Sports Federation series with No. 5 Hawai'i on Friday, Jan. 29, and Sunday, Jan. 31. Friday's opener is set for a 9 p.m. PT (7 p.m. HT) first serve inside the Stan Sheriff Center.
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