LA JOLLA, Calif. - UC San Diego came up short against USC, 3-1, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men's volleyball match at RIMAC Arena on Saturday night. Set scores were 25-19, 26-24, 19-25 and 25-22.
With the result, UCSD is now 3-9 overall and 0-8 in the MPSF. USC moved to 2-8 overall and 2-6 in league play.
Senior outside hitter Kirill Rudenko was the lone Triton in double-figure kills with 11, matching his season high from the opener back on Jan. 8. He hit .471 (11-3-17) for the night and added three assists and a solo block. Junior Ian Colbert wound up with nine kills, six digs and three blocks. Freshman setter Ryan Blaich came off the bench for season highs of 22 assists, five digs and two kills, on two attacks, while also serving his first career ace.
Three Trojans reached double digits in kills in Alex Slaught (12), Jon Rivera (11) and Tommy Leonard (11). Senior libero Brooks Varni led all players with 14 digs.
The hitting margin was minimal, with USC at .229 and UCSD at .211. The Tritons even out-blocked just their second opponent of 2016 and first of the MPSF variety, 13.0-8.0, but it wasn't enough. That team block total was a high for the season. UCSD's middle blockers, Shayne Beamer and Alec Flowers, achieved career bests in total blocks with six and five, respectively, including one solo stuff by each. They added seven kills apiece.
A season-long four-match road stretch now awaits UCSD. The Tritons will first head off to play No. 10 UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. They will then face top-ranked UCLA on Saturday, Feb. 13, also at 7 p.m.
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