LONG BEACH, Calif. - The University of California San Diego men's volleyball team dropped a second straight three-setter to a top-five Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) opponent at RIMAC Arena on Saturday night, this time to No. 2 Long Beach State. Set scores were 25-14, 25-19 and 25-20.
With the loss, UC San Diego is now 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the MPSF. Long Beach State remained atop the standings while improving to 11-2 overall and 7-1 in league play.
Junior opposite Tanner Syftestad slammed down 16 kills to lead all players, while super sophomore TJ DeFalco had 14 to pace the 49ers, hitting a match-best .407 (14-3-27). LBSU attacked .417 (38-8-72) as a team to .253 by the home side.
The contest saw just three tie scores and one lead change, that in the third. The Tritons allowed nine service aces, though they did out-block the Beach, 6.5-3.0.
Syftestad added an ace, five digs and a match-best four total blocks. Senior middle blocker Shayne Beamer provided a spark of the bench with six kills on seven swings (.714), one ace and two block assists. Milosh Stojcic had 30 assists. Libero Ryan Lew and Xander Jimenez provided six digs each.
LBSU sprinted out 5-1 in the opening set, and though the Tritons were still hanging around down 17-14 on a Syftestad kill, the 49ers tallied the next eight points. Sophomore setter Josh Tuaniga served four aces in a row during the late stretch.
Game two was also competitive in the early going, with two straight points by UCSD on kills by Jimenez and Beamer bringing it to within a single point at 10-9. The ensuing four points went to the Beach, with two Bryce Yould aces in the middle of that mini-run that led to UCSD's first timeout at 14-9.
The Tritons came out fired up for the third frame, grabbing a 7-2 advantage to force LBSU's first timeout of the match. Syftestad, Ian Colbert and Bryan Zhu (San Diego/Rancho Bernardo HS) combined on the only triple block of the night, on DeFalco for 8-3. The lead grew to seven at 11-4 after Colbert's lone ace. It was still seven at 15-8 when Beamer collected a kill, but suddenly, momentum shifted.
LBSU scored the next five around a UCSD timeout, with two aces and a kill by sophomore opposite Kyle Ensing. Colbert's kill only momentarily stopped the bleeding, as once again, the 49ers surged to a 5-0 run around the home side's last timeout. Then came a Syftestad kill, followed by three more from the visitors and 21-17. The sides effectively traded points from there.
UC San Diego hits the road this week, headed for Provo, Utah. There, the Tritons take on third-ranked BYU twice, with an MPSF tilt on Friday, Feb. 17, followed by a non-conference matchup on Saturday, Feb. 18. Both contests will air live to a national television audience on BYUtv, at 6 p.m. PT and 5 p.m. PT, respectively.
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