LOS ANGELES - The University of California San Diego men's volleyball team dropped the first set but rallied to defeat USC, 3-1, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) match Saturday night at Galen Center. Set scores were 23-25, 25-23, 25-23 and 25-23.
The victory snaps a string of 49 consecutive defeats for UC San Diego in MPSF play, dating back to a 3-0 home decision over Pacific on April 11, 2014.
With a fourth win in a row for the first time since 2012, UCSD improves to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the MPSF. The Tritons had stepped out of league activity to earn three consecutive triumphs. USC, coming off of a four-set road upset of No. 6 UC Irvine on Friday, dropped to 3-8 overall and 2-6 in league play.
Junior opposite Tanner Syftestad put down 26 kills, eclipsing the 20-kill mark and achieving the match high for the fifth straight contest. He hit .451 (26-3-51). Senior outside hitter and fellow tri-captain Ian Colbert joined him in double figures with 11 kills. Junior setter Milosh Stojcic wound up with 45 assists, a match- and career-high two service aces, a career-best five total blocks, three digs and a kill.
Freshman libero Ryan Lew got to a team-high 10 digs and handled all 15 of his service receptions cleanly. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Xander Jimenez provided six kills, six digs, one ace and a match- and career-high seven total blocks, including two of the solo variety. Alec Flowers contributed six kills (.455), five blocks and an ace, while fellow middle blocker Bryan Zhu had six block assists.
"This was a great win tonight by the Tritons," remarked a well-pleased UCSD head coach Kevin Ring. "We had a hard-fought first set that we came up just short in (but which allowed us to) keep our composure. We knew that we were playing some good volleyball and still had some room for improvement, things to work on, and adjustments to make. We came back in a close second set and were able to close that out. Then the same thing in the third set, with another deuce (two-point) game.
"In the fourth, we were in the better position, being up two sets to one. I really wanted our guys to stay the aggressors. We didn't get off to a good start, through a couple good plays by USC and a couple of off plays on our side of the net. (USC) went up 15-10 and I called a timeout. We talked about hey it's not out of reach. This is still within striking distance, but we don't have a lot of room for error at this point. We need guys to stick their serve, come up with a couple of key blocks, and really stay aggressive in transition. I think we did all three of those things.
"I'm really proud of their fight. We just chipped away and chipped away. I definitely have to credit our serving (substitutions). They did a tremendous job tonight. Luke La Mont and Calvin Manchenko had some key serves at critical times that really helped power us through. I can't say enough about Tanner Syftestad's effort. Then 14.5 stuff blocks. I thought we got in front of guys and made some big blocks in key moments. I'm real proud of them. It's our first conference victory in some time now. That's also four (wins) in a row, and we want to keep this going. "
UCSD's 14.5 total team blocks were a large factor against USC's 8.0. The Tritons also out-hit the Trojans, .317-.252.
The first three frames featured a remarkable 53 tie scores, including 20 in the first stanza alone, and 21 lead changes. By comparison, the fourth had just two tie scores, at 18-18 and 20-20, and one lead change. That was the only one that mattered, that turned deficits of 13-7 and 15-10 for UCSD, into a 19-18 edge on a combination block by Jimenez and Zhu on USC senior outside hitter Lucas Yoder. That triggered the home side's second and final timeout.
The Trojans pulled even at 20-20 on a triple block by Gianluca Grasso, Lucas Lossone and Jon Rivera on Jimenez, but back-to-back hitting errors, with the first one caused by another tandem stuff by Stojcic and Zhu, gave UCSD a 22-20 advantage. USC got back to within one twice at 22-21 and 23-22, but two Syftestad kills around a Zhu service mistake sealed the deal.
In fact, in all four Triton wins during this current win streak, Syftestad has accounted for his team's final two points, via eight kills, in each decision. Nine of the Sacramento product's 26 kills on the night, came in that fourth set.
Each team had a triple block in the second set, UCSD's coming from Jimenez, Syftestad and Zhu.
Yoder finished with 20 kills for the hosts. Grasso and Aaron Strange added 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Setter Gert Lisha dished out 48 assists and completed his double-double by leading all players with his 12 digs.
UC San Diego returns home for a trio of MPSF matches, all against nationally-ranked foes, in the week ahead. The stretch begins Wednesday night, Feb. 8, against No. 14 CSUN. First serve at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla is set for 7 p.m.
Triton Notes: Saturday's result had added significance for first-year UCSD assistant coach Nick Vogel, who starred as a collegian at archrival UCLA ... UCSD had dropped the six prior meetings with USC over the last three seasons, with five of them in straight sets ... This is the Tritons' first win over the Trojans, and first win over USC in Los Angeles, since a 3-2 decision on March 16, 2013 ... UCSD in fact swept its two meetings with USC that season for the first time in program history ... Five of the Tritons' nine all-time wins over the Trojans have come in Los Angeles.
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