SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - UC San Diego was swept at No. 10 UC Santa Barbara, 3-0, in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men's volleyball action Friday night at Rob Gym. Set scores were 25-20, 25-22 and 25-14.
UCSD dropped to 3-10 overall and 0-9 in the MPSF. UCSB improved to 9-5 overall and 5-4 in league play. The Gauchos took both meetings this season in three frames.
"In sets one and two, we were very competitive up until about 18, 19, 20 points," said UCSD head coach Kevin Ring. "We didn't sustain that level late in those games. UC Santa Barbara, to their credit, served extremely well down the stretch and definitely got us in trouble. We weren't able to come up with that key, important sideout late in the game."
Senior outside hitter Kirill Rudenko finished with a season-high 12 kills to lead the Tritons, matching his career best. He hit a career-high .611 (12-1-18). Libero Tanner Howard, the only other senior on the UCSD roster, had a team-high six digs. True freshman Ryan Blaich earned his first collegiate start at the setter spot.
Matt Marsh collected 15 kills for the home side and served three aces, as did teammate Corey Chavers. Star setter Jonah Seif wound up with 35 assists, five digs, one block assist, one ace and four kills on four attacks. Parker Boehle had eight digs.
The first two sets featured nine lead changes and 19 tie scores. The final frame was all UCSB after a 2-2 deadlock at the very start.
UCSD continues a season-long four-match road stretch at No. 2 UCLA on Saturday night, Feb. 13. First serve inside the John Wooden Center is set for 7 p.m.
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