LA JOLLA, Calif. - The University of California San Diego lost to No. 5 University of Hawai'i, 3-0, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men's volleyball match Friday night at RIMAC Arena. Set scores were 25-16, 25-15 and 25-23.
The teams began the day as the owners of the two longest current win streaks in the MPSF, both at five contests. With the result, UC San Diego falls to 5-6 overall and 2-5 in the MPSF. The Tritons had come out on top in their previous two conference tilts, including Wednesday's home sweep over No. 13 CSUN. Hawai'i moved to 11-2 overall and 4-2 in league play.
Junior opposite Tanner Syftestad wound up with a team-high seven kills, coming off of six straight in which he had provided the match high with 14 or more. Even in defeat, UCSD had 9.0 total team blocks, to 7.0 by UH. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Drew Sloane started and had a match- and career-best eight total blocks, to go along with one kill and one ace. Freshman outside hitter Devin Pontigon (Oceanside/El Camino HS) collected five kills on seven swings off the bench.
Fourth-year senior middle blocker Shayne Beamer made his return to the court after missing the previous six matches, contributing a pair of kills.
A pair of 3-0 mini-runs had UCSD up 7-3 in the opening frame. UH countered with a 3-0 stretch of its own a bit later, however, to draw even at 11-11 and force the first timeout of the evening. An attack error gave the Tritons the next point, but the Rainbow Warriors tallied six of seven from there, and ultimately scored the last five.
Once again in the second, UCSD got off to a strong start, managing the first three points on three bad UH attacks, the last two through combination blocks by Sloane and Syftestad, and then Sloane and Xander Jimenez. Hawai'i notched the following four points to take its first lead of the stanza. A 3-0 sequence gave the visitors a commanding 19-12 advantage as Triton head coach Kevin Ring, celebrating his birthday Friday, used his second timeout.
Game three was the tightest, featuring nine tie scores and three lead changes. The Tritons used a 4-0 run to push ahead, 7-4, and cause a UH timeout. Beamer, Luke La Mont and junior setter Milosh Stojcic had kills around a solo denial by La Mont.
A Rainbow Warrior service error coming out of a UCSD timeout gave the home side a slight 17-15 edge, but UH answered by tallying the ensuing four points. The Tritons never regained the lead, but did level matters twice at 19-19 and finally at 23-23 on a stuff block by Sloane and Syftestad. Kills by Kupono Fey and Brett Rosenmeier ended the match. Rosenmeier thus led all players with nine kills.
UC San Diego concludes this busy week at home against second-ranked MPSF leader Long Beach State (10-2, 6-1 MPSF) on Saturday night, Feb. 11. First serve at RIMAC Arena is set for 7 p.m. The 49ers were 3-0 victors at No. 7 UC Irvine Friday.
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