IRVINE, Calif. - The 13th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team opened its fourth Big West Conference season Thursday with a heartbreaking five-set loss to No. 12 UC Irvine. Scores from the Bren Events Center in Orange County were 25-21, 23-25, 21-25, 25-21, and 17-15.

When the back-and-forth affair was over, UC San Diego dropped to 0-5 while UC Irvine improved to 1-4. It was the first league contest for both squads.

UC San Diego held an edge in digs (46-41) and service aces (8-6), but hit just .152 (57-35-145) overall, mostly due to the Anteaters' stifling blocking game. UCI totaled 17.5 team blocks. Scott Stadick, the seven-foot middle who led the nation in blocking in 2020, had 12 stuffs coming in the form of 11 block assists and one solo. Joel Schneidmiller and Dylan Zhai finished with seven apiece, while Patrick Vorenkamp had six (one solo).

The Tritons' best offensive set was the opening frame as they hit .333 (15-5-30). Unfortunately, it also happened to be the strongest set for the Anteaters, who came in at .583 (15-1-24). For the match, UC San Diego posted a .152 (57-35-145) hitting percentage and UC Irvine ended with a .319 (60-17-135).

Three Tritons had double-digit kill totals including outsides Ryan Ka (19) and Kyle McCauley (14), as well as middle blocker Shane Benetz (11). Ka's kill total established a new career-best for him, as did his digs (11) and points (12) totals. Benetz was effective up front, hitting .381 (11-3-21) and coming away with five blocks (one solo). Setter Blake Crisp had 50 assists, a new career-high total for him. McCauley (3), Crisp (2), and opposite Collin Shannon (2) accounted for seven of UC San Diego's eight aces.

For UCI, Schneidmiller ended his night with a very impressive 33.5 points. The outside hitter had a career-high 28 kills and a pair of aces to go along with his seven blocks. He led all players with his .489 (28-5-47) attack percentage. The rest of the Anteaters' lineup combined for 32 kills, meaning that Schneidmiller accounted for 47 percent of the team's kills.

UC Irvine gave up a good amount of points at the service line, committing 23 errors to just six aces.
 

Set 1 (25-21 Anteaters)
• Tied at 3-3, UCI took the lead on a Triton serve error and stayed up for the rest of the set.
• A McCauley kill brought UC San Diego back within two points at 18-16.
• The Anteaters won the next two points to go up 20-16 and the Tritons could not close the gap.
• UC San Diego hit .333 and UCI hit .583. It was the highest percentage of any set for the Tritons.

Set 2 (25-23 Tritons)
• The Tritons got out to a 6-2 lead backed by three kills and an ace by Ryan Ka.
• UC San Diego led by as many as eight points, the final time at 19-11.
• Trailing 22-16, the Anteaters won five straight points to get back within one at 22-21.
• A Ka kill made it 23-21 Tritons, but back-to-back kills from Stadick and Schneidmiller evened it up at 23 all.
• Two consecutive errors by UCI, one from the service line and one on the attack, led to the final score.
• UC San Diego hit .125 and UC Irvine hit .250.

Set 3 (25-21 Tritons)
• Again, UC San Diego was strong out of the gate, getting out to an 8-3 advantage.
• The Tritons led by seven, 16-9, and from that point, the Anteaters would get no closer than three.
• UC San Diego hit .114 and UC Irvine hit .079, the lowest of the match for the Anteaters.

Set 4 (25-21 Anteaters)
• Yet again, UC San Diego was hot early on, racing to a 7-1 advantage.
• UCI won six of the next seven points to get back within one, 8-7.
• The Anteaters' first lead came when a block by Stadick and Zhai made it 10-9.
• At 12-12, UC Irvine scored three straight times, followed by a three-point Triton run.
• Tied 18-18, the Anteaters scored twice in a row to make it 20-18 and they never relinquished their lead from there.
• UC San Diego hit .214 and UC Irvine hit .476.

Set 5 (17-15 Anteaters)
• Two early UC San Diego attack errors let UCI out to a 2-0 lead.
• The Tritons evened it right back up at 2-2 with back-to-back kills from Shannon and Crisp.
• Another attack error by the Anteaters gave the Tritons their first lead of the set, 5-4.
• Yet another attack error allowed UC San Diego to go up by two, 7-5.
 • At 9-7 Tritons, Schneidmiller had two kills to tie it up at 9-9.
• After a long series of back-and-forth, UC San Diego held match point at 15-14. However, UC Irvine rallied for three consecutive points to grab the victory.
• The final three points of the match came from a Schneidmiller kill, a Vorenkamp block, and a Triton error. 
• UC San Diego hit .214 and UC Irving hit .400.

TRITON TIDBITS
• It was one year ago today that the Tritons swept Penn State at RIMAC Arena. It proved to be the final NCAA event on campus until December of 2020 as the NCAA canceled all remaining winter and spring championships on March 12. 
• It was the first five-set match for either team this season.
• UC San Diego defeated UC Irvine twice in 2020, the first serving as the Tritons' inaugural Big West Conference victory.
• Kyle McCauley has totaled at least 10 kills in all five of the Tritons' matches this season.
• UC San Diego was without senior outside hitter Wyatt Harrison for the the fourth consecutive match due to injury.

UP NEXT
The Tritons and Anteaters don't need to wait long to see each other again as the rematch takes place on Friday, March 12, at RIMAC Arena in La Jolla. First serve is set for 5 p.m. and you can follow all of the action on with a live broadcast on ESPN3 or with live stats. 

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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions III and II and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.

Return To Sport… Safely
In order for UC San Diego scholar-athletes to be permitted to return to training and competition safely and within federal, state, local, and university guidelines, the athletic department implemented a number of measures designed to complement and enhance the university's highly-successful Return To Learn program. Notable actions include being physically distanced when practical, including during out-of-season training sessions; wearing masks, except when undergoing physically strenuous exercise; and maintaining proper hygiene. Athletes, coaches, and staff are testing at a higher frequency than the campus population, teams adhere to CDC, NCAA, and Big West Conference guidelines, and department officials participate in regular meetings with conference and university-affiliated physicians and the UC San Diego emergency operations staff.