LA JOLLA, Calif. - Kyle McCauley hammered down a career high 21 kills and the 15th-ranked University of California San Diego men's volleyball team finished with its best offensive output since 2018 en route to a 3-1 victory against Princeton, tied for 13th in the nation, Tuesday evening inside RIMAC Arena.

Scores were 23-25, 25-20, 26-24, and 25-19. 

The Tritons, who have won four straight matches, improved to 7-2 for just the second time in program history. They got out to the same mark in 2018, collecting their seventh win against Princeton in La Jolla that season as well.

UC San Diego hit a blistering .406 with 58 kills and 15 errors in 106 attack attempts. It was the team's highest hitting percentage since going .447 (45-11-76) against UC Merced on Jan. 11 two seasons ago. The Tritons have hit over .300 in six of nine contests this year.

For McCauley, it was his third performance going north of 20 kills and the seventh time he has hit a double-digit kill total this season. He hit .472 (21-4-36) and also added four block assists and three digs.

Wyatt Harrison, the reigning Big West Conference Player of the Week, finished with 14 kills on .321 (14-5-28) hitting, while Shane Benetz had 10 kills and posted a .563 (10-1-16) hitting mark. Charlie Siragusa had seven kills with no errors in 10 swings, good for a .700 attack. Logan Clark set a new career best with eight blocks (one solo) and Ryan Lew, the latest Big West Defensive Player of the Week, had a match high 12 digs. Setter Connor Walbrecht had 49 assists, nine digs, and four blocks.

The Tritons were relentless at the net, out-blocking the Tigers 14-7. Defensively, they held a 39-29 advantage in digs.

Princeton (2-4) hit .263 (52-21-118) with 20 kills from Jerod Nelsen and 11 from Parker Dixon.

The Tritons are 18-7 all-time against the Tigers. It was the third ranked team they have beaten this season (No. 3 UCLA, No. 11 Loyola). 

UC San Diego hosts Concordia Irvine, tied with Princeton for 13th in the national rankings, on Friday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast live by ESPN3.

About UC San Diego Athletics
With 30 national team championships, nearly 150 individual titles, and the top student-athlete graduation rate among Division II institutions in the United States, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program annually ranks as one of the most successful in the country. The Tritons sponsor 23 intercollegiate sport programs that compete on the NCAA Division I and II levels and, in the summer of 2020, will transition into full Division I status as a member of the Big West Conference. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's pre-eminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent. A total of 82 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 37 have earned prestigious NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarships. In competition, almost 1,400 UC San Diego scholar-athletes have earned All-America honors.

Follow the Tritons
For complete coverage and information regarding UC San Diego Athletics, follow the Tritons online at UCSDTritons.com and through social media on Twitter (@UCSDTritons), Instagram (@UCSDTritons) and Facebook (UCSDTritons). To stay tuned in to UC San Diego Men's Volleyball, follow the team's Instagram (@UCSDmvb) or visit the Tritons on Twitter (@UCSDmvb).