LA JOLLA, California — In a battle between two top-10 nationally-ranked squads Friday night, the No. 8 UC San Diego men's volleyball team fell in four sets to No. 6 Grand Canyon at RIMAC Arena.

Scores of the non-conference match-up went 25-21, 25-19, 24-26, and 25-20. The Tritons dropped to 2-1 with their first loss of the season while the Antelopes improved to 3-2 to snap a two-match losing slide.

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HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego hit .184 with 49 kills and 26 errors in 125 attack attempts. Grand Canyon finished at .267 with 45 kills and 18 errors in 101 swings. The Tritons led in kills (49-45) and assists (46-39) while the Antelopes held advantages in service aces (7-4) and digs (36-33). Both teams had eight blocks each.

Both teams had their best offensive numbers in the first half of the match.

UC San Diego started with a .276 hitting percentage in the first set and came in at .265 in the second. The numbers dropped from there as the Tritons hit .139 in the third and .038 in the fourth.

GCU hit over .300 in a pair of sets, including .435 in the opener and .312 in set two. The 'Lopes' numbers also dipped as they swung at .138 in the third frame and .190 in the fourth.   

UC San Diego was paced offensively by senior outside hitter Kyle McCauley, who ended his night with 16 kills and a .316 hitting percentage. He also added eight digs, two aces, and two blocks.

Senior opposite hitter Wyatt Harrison had 11 kills, six digs, an ace, and a block. The 2020 All-Big West Honorable Mention performer did not play in the first two matches of the season and saw action in just four matches in 2021.

Senior middle blocker Shane Benetz and junior outside Ryan Ka each contributed six kills. Benetz also had four blocks. Sophomore middle Nick Rigo and senior opposite Charlie Siragusa had four kills apiece. Senior libero Matt Palma had a team-high nine digs while senior setter Blake Crisp assisted on 37 kills. 

Camden Gianni led Grand Canyon with a match-high 17 kills and also logged seven digs and four aces. Cole Udall led all players with 10 digs and Colin Lovejoy had four blocks.

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HIGHLIGHT REEL



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KEVIN RING INTERVIEW



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TRITON TIDBITS
• Freshman setter Gabriel Dyer made his collegiate debut and finished with six assists, a service ace, a block, and a dig.
• First-year Triton outside hitter Jason Lee also made his debut.
• Kyle McCauley has led the Tritons in kills in all three matches this season. He has posted at least 14 kills in all three outings.

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UP NEXT
Now finished with its season-opening three-match home stand, UC San Diego hits the road next week for non-conference matches at NJIT and Princeton.

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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 II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 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.