LA JOLLA, Calif. — The last two times that UC San Diego and Hawaii have played each other in men's volleyball, the match went the distance, stretching to five sets. More importantly, the Tritons won both contests.
The most recent of the two match-ups happened Wednesday night at RIMAC Arena, with 10th-ranked UC San Diego earning a hard-fought upset victory over No. 3 Hawaii, the reigning national champion. Scores were 25-22, 25-23, 25-27, 18-25, and 15-9.
With the win, the Tritons improved to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in Big West Conference play. The Rainbow Warriors, which had their nine-match win streak snapped, dropped to 13-3 on the season and 0-1 in league play.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego had three players finish with a double-figure kill total including
Ryan Ka and
Kyle McCauley, who each racked up a match-high 19.
Shane Benetz had 14 and posted a .632 hitting percentage, just a tad below his career-best of .636. Benetz also added six blocks (one solo), while Ka matched his career-high with 11 digs and McCauley equaled his career-best with a match-high 12 digs. Libero
Matt Palma also totaled 12 digs.
Keeping on the topic of career-highs, setter
Blake Crisp amassed 63 assists to top his previous best of 56. The senior assisted on all but seven of UC San Diego's 70 kills.
As a team, the Tritons hit .280 with the 70 kills and 30 errors in 143 attack attempts. They opened the night with a .424 (20-6-33) in the first set and closed with a superb .900 (9-0-10) in the fifth frame. The home team held sizable advantages in kills (70-47), digs (56-37), assists (69-42). Both teams had four service aces and Hawaii led in blocks, 13-8.
The Warriors got a team-best 13 kills from Dimitrios Mouchlias, who completed a double-double by adding 10 digs. Guilherme Voss was a force at the net, ending his night with eight blocks (three solos). Jakob Thelle had five blocks (two solos).
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HIGHLIGHT REEL
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INTERVIEW WITH MATT PALMA
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TRITON TIDBITS
• It was the highest-ranked team that UC San Diego has defeated this season so far. The previous was No. 11 BYU.
• Tonight's win also snapped an 11-match Big West Conference win streak for the Warriors.
• It was UC San Diego's first victory against Hawaii in La Jolla since Jan. 28, 2011. That match also went five sets.
• The previous meeting between the Tritons and Warriors was in a Big West Championship semifinal on April 23, 2021. Hawaii came in undefeated, ranked No. 1 in the nation, and as the tournament's top seed.
•
Kyle McCauley has finished with a double-figure kill total in all 13 matches played.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego and Hawaii go at it again on Friday, March 4, inside RIMAC Arena. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and tickets can 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.
