LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 10th-ranked University of California San Diego men's volleyball team improved on its best ever season start Friday with a sweep of No. 6 UC Irvine in Big West Conference action at RIMAC Arena. Scores were 25-22, 25-18, and 25-23.

The Tritons, which won their fifth-straight match, are off to a program-best 12-3 start and tonight's win kept them unbeaten in league play at 2-0. Both of their conference wins have been against UCI, with the first coming last week in Orange County. That was their first Big West victory since the league began sponsoring men's volleyball in 2018.

For the eighth time this season, UC San Diego hit over .300, coming in at .357 with 52 kills and 17 errors in 98 attack attempts. The Tritons held large advantages in kills (52-28), assists (50-28), and digs (31-23) while the Anteaters managed a .274 (28-8-73) hitting percentage. Both squads had just four blocks. UC Irvine came into the match as the top blocking team in the nation, averaging 2.9 stuffs per set.

Individually, three Tritons amassed 10 or more kills including outside hitter and reigning Big West Player of the Week Kyle McCauley (match-high 17), outside Wyatt Harrison (16), and opposite hitter Collin Shannon (10). Middle blockers Shane Benetz and Logan Clark were efficient, combining for nine kills and zero errors in 13 attacks, good for a .692 hitting percentage. Setter Connor Walbrecht, the most recent Big West Defensive Player of the Week, finished with 45 assists to go along with a match-best 12 digs.

The Anteaters, which lost their third consecutive match, fell to 7-6 overall and 0-2 in the Big West. Opposite hitter Alexandre Nsakanda led the team with eight kills, while seven-foot middle blocker Scott Stadick was just behind with seven. Stadick, the nation's leading blocker, totaled three block assists.   

UC San Diego has defeated a nationally-ranked team six times in 2020. In addition to No. 5/No. 6 UC Irvine twice, the Tritons have also taken down No. 3 UCLA, No. 11 Loyola, No. 13 Princeton, and No. 14 Concordia Irvine.

Tonight's win also gave the Tritons their first Big West regular season sweep as well as their first Big West win streak.  

UC San Diego takes a quick break from league play, but not UC play, as it hosts UC Santa Cruz on Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast live by ESPN3.

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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.

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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).