LA JOLLA, Calif. - UC San Diego certainly made third-ranked Brigham Young University work for it, but ultimately was the victim of a three-set defeat to the Cougars in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men's volleyball match Friday night at RIMAC Arena. Set scores were 25-18, 26-24 and 25-21.
The contest was played in front of a season-best home crowd for the Tritons of 888 spectators.
UCSD dropped to 5-18 overall and 0-17 in the MPSF. Coming off of just its third loss of the year that knocked it out of the No. 1 national ranking last Saturday, BYU improved to 18-3 overall and 14-3 in league play. The Cougars, preseason MPSF favorites, have now taken all 39 matchups all-time with the Tritons. UCSD was officially eliminated from contention for a spot in the eight-team MPSF Tournament.
Both teams had two players in double-figure kills, with Ian Colbert and Tanner Syftestad collecting 11 kills and five digs apiece for the Tritons. Senior outside hitter Kirill Rudenko provided a match- and career-high 11 digs, reaching double figures for just the second time in his three-year UCSD career, after a 10-dig effort in a four-setter at home against Stanford on Feb. 14, 2015. Rudenko added eight kills and his team's lone service ace.
Freshman setter Ryan Blaich made his fifth start in a row and wound up with 32 assists, six digs, a team- and season-high four total blocks to share the match high, and a single kill. That block output included a pair of solo stuffs, another season best. Senior libero Tanner Howard had eight digs and a career-best six assists.
For BYU, Brenden Sander led all players with 16 kills, while sophomore teammate Ben Patch contributed 14 without an error on 21 swings for a .667 hitting percentage. The duo also combined for three of the Cougars' five aces. Libero Erik Sikes handled nine digs. Setter Leo Durkin had 37 assists, six digs and four blocks.
The first and third sets Friday featured just one tie score and no lead changes, though the Cougars did not run away with either frame. Blaich had the first of his two solo blocks early in the match to pull UCSD to within two at 5-3, as the Newbury Park product rose on the right side and put Jake Langlois' attack down crosscourt. BYU later went up 22-15 on a Sander ace to force the Tritons' second timeout.
The second set was closest with 11 tie scores and a couple of lead changes. UCSD in fact led for a decent portion, going up for the first time on the night at 2-1 on a Colbert kill. A powerful kill by junior middle blocker Shayne Beamer preceded a stuff block by Blaich and freshman middle Nathan Thalken, for a 6-3 advantage. Rudenko's ace forced BYU's first timeout of the night, facing a 10-6 deficit. Coming out of that break, Syftestad rolled a soft kill for 11-7.
The visitors caught up at 15-15 through a four-point run as UCSD called for time, but Rudenko and Thalken immediately teamed up for a block on Langlois to regain the slim edge at 16-15. The only triple block of the match, by Durkin, Hatch and Sander, levelled matters again at 17-17. A huge stuff by Durkin and Price Jarman broke a 21-21 tie in favor of the Cougars, who earned a pair of set points moments later. The Tritons turned away both, on a Colbert kill followed by a combo block by Beamer and Syftestad on Sander. The BYU sophomore responded with two kills to win it.
BYU trotted out to a significant 10-2 bulge in the final stanza behind the strength of a trio of big combo blocks, by Sander and Michael Hatch for 3-0, Hatch and Langlois for 6-1, and Hatch and Patch for 9-2. To the credit of head coach Kevin Ring's Tritons, they managed to get back to within just three at 19-16 at the end of a 5-0 run that featured a block by Beamer and Blaich, to force a Cougar timeout.
UCSD and BYU conclude their season series with a second meeting on Saturday, March 26. First serve inside RIMAC Arena is once again set for 7 p.m.
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