PROVO, Utah — Outside hitter Ryan Ka put down a match-high 23 kills to lead the 14th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team to its second five-set win in as many days at No. 11 BYU Saturday night. 

Scores from Smith Fieldhouse were 25-22, 15-25, 22-25, 25-15, and 15-12. Both teams are now 5-5 on the season.

Friday night, UC San Diego came back from two sets down to defeat the Cougars in five. It was the Tritons' first-ever victory against the Cougars.

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HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second-straight night UC San Diego hit over .300, coming in at .321 with 57 kills and 21 errors in 112 attack attempts. The Tritons led in points (69.5-69), kills (57-54), aces (5-3), assists (53-50), and digs (37-25).

Outside hitter Kyle McCauley also hit a double-figure kill total with 11. He also added three service aces for the second time this season. He has had multiple aces in seven of nine contests.

Middle blocker Shane Benetz posted a .571 attack with eight kills and no errors in 14 swings. Ka (.410) and middle Logan Clark (.417) both hit over .400.

Ka and McCauley each racked up a team-high nine digs. Ka and Benetz had four blocks apiece.

Setter Blake Crisp totaled 44 assists.

BYU had a higher attack percentage at .331 with 54 kills and 15 errors in 118 attempts. The Cougars held a 12-7 advantage in blocks.

Individually, BYU was led by the duo of Davide Gardini and Miks Ramanis, who each had 14 kills. Anthony Cherfan had 12 and Gavin Julien had 10. Ramanis and Bartosz Slawinski came away with four blocks apiece and Mitchel Worthington had a match-high 10 digs.

The Tritons never trailed in the decisive fifth set. There were seven tie scores in the frame, the final one coming at 11-11. UC San Diego won four of the next five points on a Clark kill, a BYU attack error, a double block by Clark and Ka, and a final kill by Ka.

The Tritons finished strong, posting a .684 (13-0-19) hitting percentage in set four and a .583 (8-1-12) in set five.

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TRITON TIDBITS
• Ryan Ka's 23 kills were his most since finishing with a career-high 25 against UC Irvine on March 12, 2021.
• Ka has posted a double-digit kill total in his last four outings.
• Kyle McCauley has finished with at least 11 kills in all nine of his matches played.
• It was the fifth time that the Tritons have hit at least .300 this season.
• The final kill of the match by Ka was assisted by libero Matt Palma.
• The last time UC San Diego won two consecutive five-set matches was in 2017 (1/21 at Concordia, 1/28 vs. Hope International).

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UP NEXT
UC San Diego returns to La Jolla to host UC Santa Cruz on Feb. 18 and Concordia on Feb. 19. Both of those matches, which will serve as the Tritons' final tune-ups before opening Big West Conference play, are scheduled for 7 p.m. starts at RIMAC Arena. Tickets may be purchased here.

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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.