HONOLULU - It's tourney time in Hawaii for the ninth-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team.
The Big West Conference Men's Volleyball Championship runs April 21-23 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
The Tritons, the tourney's fourth seed, open against fifth-seeded and 14th-ranked UC Irvine in a first round match on Thursday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m. Pacific. The winner advances to take on top-seeded and third-ranked Long Beach State in a semifinal on Friday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. Pacific.
In the other first round contest, third-seeded and sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara plays CSUN, the sixth seed. The winner of that match faces second-seeded and fourth-ranked Hawaii in a semifinal on Friday, April 22, at 10 p.m. Pacific.
The championship match is slated for Saturday, April 23, at 10:30 p.m. Pacific.
At the 2021 tournament, also in Honolulu, UC San Diego defeated CSUN in the first round to pick up the team's first-ever postseason win in NCAA Division I/II. The Tritons went on to down top-seeded, No. 1-ranked, and undefeated Hawaii in the semifinals. In the finals, they lost against UC Santa Barbara, who got the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA National Collegiate Championships.
Hawaii received an at-large bid to the national championships, where it defeated UC Santa Barbara and BYU to win the program's first-ever national title.
This season, UC San Diego is 2-0 vs. UC Irvine, 1-1 vs. CSUN, 1-1 vs. Hawaii, 1-1 vs. Long Beach State, and 0-2 vs. UC Santa Barbara.
THE ESSENTIALS
--- Match 24: Big West Conference Championship First Round ---
• No. 9 UC San Diego (13-10, 5-5) vs. No. 14
UC Irvine (10-15, 3-7)
• Thursday / April 21 / 7:30 p.m. PDT
•
SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center / Honolulu, Hawaii (
map)
•
Tickets and Game Day Info
•
ESPN+
•
Live Stats
•
Twitter /
Instagram
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE (all times Pacific)
Thursday, April 21: First Round
Match 1, 7:30 p.m. Pacific: No. 4 UC San Diego (5-5) vs. No. 5
UC Irvine (3-7)
Match 2, 10 p.m. Pacific: No. 3
UC Santa Barbara (6-4) vs. No. 6
CSUN (1-9)
Friday, April 22: Semifinals
Match 3, 7:30 p.m. Pacific: No. 1
Long Beach State (8-2) vs. winner of Match 1
Match 4, 10 p.m. Pacific: No. 2
Hawaii (7-3) vs. winner of Match 2
Saturday, April 23: Final
Match 5, 10:30 p.m. Pacific: Winner Match 3 vs. winner Match 4
UC SAN DIEGO AT THE BIG WEST TOURNAMENT (2-3 record)
2021 as fourth seed: Defeated CSUN, 3-1, in first round (
box score); defeated Hawaii, 3-2, in semifinal (
box score); lost, 3-1, to UC Santa Barbara in final (
box score).
2020: Tournament canceled due to pandemic.
2019 as sixth seed: Lost to UC Irvine, 3-0, in first round (
box score).
2018 as sixth seed: Lost to UC Irvine, 3-0, in first round (
box score)
FIVE TRITONS EARN ALL-BIG WEST RECOGNITION
Wednesday, five men's volleyball players from ninth-ranked UC San Diego were recognized by the Big West as the league announced its annual honorees. Outside hitter
Kyle McCauley and libero
Matt Palma were selected to the All-Big West First Team, while middle blockers
Shane Benetz and
Logan Clark were tabbed All-Big West Honorable Mention and outside hitter
Matthew Lim was named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.
The Big West Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and Coach of the Year will be announced April 26.
KYLE McCAULEY
Senior / Outside Hitter
Huntington Beach, Calif. / Edison High School
• Third career All-Big West Conference First Team selection (2021, 2020)
• Three-time Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Week (2/14, 3/7, 3/28)
• Off the Block Preseason All-America Second Team
• Off the Block National Outside Attacker of the Week (3/28)
• Three-time
UCSDTritons.com Athlete of the Week (1/17, 2/14, 3/7)
• Leads team in points, points/set, kills, kills/set, total attack attempts, aces, and aces/set
• 2nd on team in digs and reception attempts
• 3rd on team in blocks
• Nationally, 6th in points/set, 8th in kills/set, 9th in attacks/set, 11th in aces/set
• In Big West, 1st in aces, 2nd in aces/set, 3rd in kills, 4th in kills/set
• Double-digit kill total in 20 of 22 matches played
• Career-high 27 kills at NJIT (1/28)
• Multiple aces in 13 matches, including a career-high 5 twice
MATT PALMA
Senior / Libero
Costa Mesa, Calif. / Edison High School
• All-Big West Conference First Team
• Leads team in digs and digs/set
• Nationally, 7th in digs/set
• In Big West, 3rd in digs and digs/set
• Career-high 17 digs vs. Concordia (2/4)
SHANE BENETZ
Senior / Middle Blocker
Santa Clara, Calif. / The King's Academy
• Second career All-Big West Conference Honorable Mention selection (2021)
• Leads team in blocks and blocks/set
• 3rd on team in hitting percentage
• Nationally, 8th in blocks/set
• In Big West, 3rd in hitting percentage and 4th in blocks and blocks/set
• Multiple blocks in 15 of 20 matches
• Career-high 14 kills vs. Hawaii (3/2)
• Career-high 18.5 points vs. Hawaii (3/2)
• Career-high .647 hitting percentage at UC Irvine (3/26)
LOGAN CLARK
Senior / Middle Blocker
Chula Vista, Calif. / Otay Ranch Senior High School
• All-Big West Conference Honorable Mention
• Leads team in hitting percentage, 2nd in blocks and blocks/set, 3rd in kills
• Multiple blocks in 12 of 23 matches
• Career-high 15 points at BYU (2/11)
MATTHEW LIM
Freshman / Outside Hitter
San Diego, Calif. / Torrey Pines High School
• Big West Conference All-Freshman Team
• Big West Conference Freshman of the Week (2/21)
• Career-high 15 kills, 15 points, and a .524 attack percentage vs. Concordia (2/19)
• 11 kills, .500 attack percentage, and 3 blocks vs. UC Santa Cruz (2/18)
• Career-high 8 digs twice
ABOUT THE UC SAN DIEGO TRITONS
Roster |
Schedule & Results |
Statistics
• Overall: 13-10
• Big West: 5-5
• Home: 7-6
• Away: 6-4
• Neutral: 0-0
• Streak: L1
• vs. Ranked teams: 7-7
• AVCA national ranking: 9th
• Big West Preseason Poll: 3rd of 6
ABOUT THE UC IRVINE ANTEATERS
Roster |
Schedule & Results |
Statistics
• Overall: 10-15
• Big West: 3-7
• Home: 7-6
• Away: 2-9
• Neutral: 1-0
• Streak: L2
• AVCA National Ranking: 14th
• Big West Preseason Poll: T-4th of 6 (UC Santa Barbara)
TRITONS vs. ANTEATERS: THE SERIES
All-Time: UC Irvine leads 50-15
First Meeting: 2/10/89, UC Irvine wins 3-2
Last Meeting: 3/26/22, UC San Diego wins 3-2 in Irvine (
box score)
Last UC Irvine Win: 3/11/21, 3-2 in Irvine (
box score)
Current Streak: UC San Diego three wins
2022 BIG WEST STANDINGS (final)
| Team |
Big West |
Overall |
| Long Beach State |
8-2 |
19-4 |
| Hawaii |
7-3 |
22-5 |
| UC Santa Barbara |
6-4 |
18-8 |
| UC San Diego |
5-5 |
13-10 |
| UC Irvine |
3-7 |
10-15 |
| CSUN |
1-9 |
6-15 |
SENIOR-NIGHTUS
UC San Diego's final regular season match vs. UC Santa Barbara on April 16 was also Senior Night at RIMAC Arena and the eight senior members of the men's volleyball team were celebrated.
• No. 2
Logan Clark
• No. 4
Matt Palma
• No. 8
Wyatt Harrison
• No. 13
Berkeley Miesfeld
• No. 16
Shane Benetz
• No. 21
Kyle McCauley
• No 22
Jason Lee
• No. 23
Blake Crisp
THREE-SEASON RECORD CHASE
Kyle McCauley can be found on multiple UC San Diego record lists despite only being in his third year with the Tritons.
Career Service Aces
With 86 career service aces, McCauley currently sits in second place all-time at UC San Diego. He had two last week against UC Santa Barbara to surpass Jason Spangler (2007-10) and Tanner Syftestad (2015-18), who had 85 apiece. Phil Bannon (2008-11) owns the top spot with 110.
Single Season Service Aces
McCauley has put down 44 aces in 2022. That number ranks third in UC San Diego's single season top-10 list. He needs four more to pass No. 2 Phil Bannon, who had 47 in 2011. The record is held by Eric Mai, who amassed 54 in 1997.
DIG DUG
Matt Palma recently cracked the top-10 single season digs list at UC San Diego. His 220 digs in 2022 are sixth, just six behind Nick Rothman (226 in 1989).
CRISP WITH THE ASSIST
Setter
Blake Crisp has rung up 1,840 assists during his four seasons as a Triton, eighth on the program's career list. In seventh is George You (1995-96), who had 1,928. The all-time leader is Phil Bannan (2008-11) with 4,399.
McCAULEY IS THE BIG WEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR THE THIRD TIME
On March 28, senior outside hitter
Kyle McCauley was named the Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. McCauley had a monster week to lead UC San Diego to a regular season sweep of No. 13 UC Irvine. McCauley averaged 6.1 points and 5.2 kills while hitting .407 over the two wins. He also totaled six service aces and 14 digs. On March 25 at home, McCauley led all players with 26 kills, one short of his career-high. He hit .465 and had six digs and a pair of aces. The next night at UC Irvine, McCauley totaled 21 kills on .342 hitting while also contributing four aces, eight digs, and three blocks. Over his career, the Huntington Beach, Calif., native has won the conference award five times, including on Feb. 14 and March 7 of this season.
GABE AVILLION NAMED 2021 BIG WEST SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
On March 21, former Triton
Gabe Avillion was tabbed the Big West Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2021. He also won the award in 2020. Avillion joined Long Beach State's Lena Kotanchyan as a two-time Big West Scholar-Athlete of the Year honoree. He was a member of the Triton's volleyball team that upset eventual National Champion Hawaii in the 2021 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship presented by the Hawaiian Islands. He was also the President of the Triton Athletes' Council. Avillion is currently a graduate student and and is interested in pursuing a career in the biomedical field upon graduation.
BENETZ AND McCAULEY DOUBLE UP WITH BIG WEST WEEKLY AWARDS
On March 7,
Kyle McCauley was tabbed the Big West Offensive Player of the Week and
Shane Benetz was honored as the Big West Defensive Player of the Week.
McCauley averaged 4.9 points/set, 4.5 kills/set, and 0.3 aces/set, all team-highs, as UC San Diego split a pair of matches at home against No. 3 Hawaii. In the first contest, he posted match-highs with 19 kills and 12 digs to lead the Tritons to their first win against the Rainbow Warriors in La Jolla since 2011. The victory snapped an 11-match conference win streak for Hawaii. Two nights later, McCauley logged another match-high with 17 kills on .345 hitting. Over his career McCauley has won the award four times, including on Feb. 14 of this season.
Benetz averaged a team-best 1.1 blocks/set while hitting .609 over the two matches against Hawaii. In the first, he posted career-highs with 14 kills and 15.5 points while hitting .632 and adding six blocks (one solo). In the second match-up, Benetz hit .500 and had three blocks (two solos). It's the first-ever Big West weekly honor for Benetz, who hails from Santa Clara, Calif.
HELP ME OUT
On March 2 in a five-set win over No. 3 Hawaii, setter
Blake Crisp amassed a career-high 63 assists. Crisp has totaled 50 or more assists four times this season. He has racked up 40 or more nine times and 30 or more 17 times.
BEN DOING WELL, THANKS FOR ASKING
Freshman opposite/outside
Ben Blakely had a career night at UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 24. He finished with 10.5 points (current career-high), eight kills (current career-high), nine digs (then career-high), three blocks (then career-high), an ace (current career-high), and an assist (current career-high).
KILLING ME NOT SOFTLY
Kyle McCauley has put up a double-digit kill total in 20 of his 22 matches played this season. Six times he has eclipsed the 20-kill mark which includes a career-high 27 at NJIT on Jan. 28.
TAKING IT TO THE "LIM"IT
On Feb. 21, outside hitter
Matthew Lim was named the Big West Freshman of the Week. Lim established himself as a force on the outside for the Tritons, leading the team to a pair of three-set wins at home. Against Concordia, Lim led all players with a career-high 15 kills. He hit .524 and added eight digs, both of those career-highs as well. The night prior against UC Santa Cruz, Lim finished with 11 kills on .500 hitting. He also contributed three blocks, two digs, and a service ace. For the week, Lim posted a .512 hitting percentage and averaged a team-high 4.75 points and 4.33 kills per set. He also averaged 1.67 digs and 0.5 blocks per set.
A WINNING ATTITUDE AT ALTITUDE
On Feb. 11 and 12, UC San Diego won back-to-back five-set matches against No. 11 BYU in Provo, Utah. The Friday night win was the first-ever for the Tritons against the Cougars. Not only did they get the win, they came back from two sets down to earn the upset. UC San Diego came in to the match 0-44 against BYU going back to 1993.
McCAULEY NAMED BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On Feb. 14,
Kyle McCauley was tabbed the Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Over three matches, McCauley averaged 4.11 points, 1.79 digs, and 0.5 service aces per set, all team-bests. He also averaged 3.14 kills per set. On Friday at BYU, McCauley produced a team-high 20 kills to go along with 8 blocks, 7 digs, and 2 aces. Fittingly, he had the final kill of the five-set match to clinch UC San Diego's first-ever win against the Cougars. The next night, McCauley totaled 11 kills, 9 digs, 3 blocks, 3 aces, and 3 assists in the Tritons' second-straight five-set win against the Cougars. In addition, McCauley led all players with 13 kills against No. 2 UCLA Wednesday at RIMAC Arena. He also contributed nine digs, two aces, and two blocks. It was the third Big West weekly honor for McCauley, who earned Player of the Week accolades twice in 2020.
WE MISSED YOU!
The Feb. 9 contest against No. 2 UCLA was the first time fans were allowed to spectate at a men's volleyball match since March 11, 2000. The fans were anxious to come back as 1,505 showed up. It stands as the third-highest attendance number recorded for a match at RIMAC Arena.
UC SAN DIEGO ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Starters Returning (5)
•
Shane Benetz (Sr., MB)
•
Logan Clark (Jr., MB)
•
Blake Crisp (Sr., S)
•
Ryan Ka (Jr., OH)
•
Kyle McCauley (Sr., OH)
Starters Lost (1)
•
Collin Shannon (OPP)
Primary Liberos Returning (1)
• Matt Palma (Sr.)
Others Returning (7)
• Andrew Boyle (So., S)
• Wyatt Harrison (Sr., OH)
• Berkeley Miesfeld (Jr., OPP)
• Nick Rigo (So., MB)
• Charlie Siragusa (Sr., OH/OPP)
• Michael Urdahl (Jr., MB)
• Paya Vatanshenas (R-Fr., L)
Others Lost (6)
• Gabe Avillion (MB)
• Will Campbell (S)
• Bryce Curtis (OH)
• Macune Gilruth (OPP)
• Marco Posada (OH/OPP)
• Ryan Swartz (OH)
Newcomers (8)
• Ben Blakely (Fr., OPP/OH)
• Gabriel Dyer (Fr., S/OPP)
• Jim Garrison (Fr., MB)
• Jason Lee (Fr., OH)
• Matthew Lim (Fr., OH)
• Brett Pursley (Fr., OH)
• Josh Schellinger (Fr., OH)
• Peter Selcho (Fr., MB)
2022 DEBUTS
Here's a look at the Tritons that have made their collegiate debuts this season.
•
Ben Blakely: 1/14 vs. Harvard
•
Gabriel Dyer: 1/21 vs. Grand Canyon
•
Jason Lee: 1/21 vs. Grand Canyon
•
Matthew Lim: 1/28 at NJIT
•
Michael Urdahl: 2:18 vs. UC Santa Cruz
•
Paya Vatanshenas: 1/14 vs. Harvard
McCAULEY NAMED A PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN ... AGAIN
Kyle McCauley was named to Off the Block's Preseason All-America Second Team. In 2021, he was selected to the organization's preseason first team. McCauley concluded his 2021 campaign with several major accolades including AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, All-Big West Conference First Team, and Big West All-Academic.
McCAULEY BALL
On Jan. 28 at NJIT,
Kyle McCauley established a new career-high with 27 kills, three more than his previous best. At the time, it was the most kills in a five-set match by any player in NCAA Division I and Division II this season. It was also the second-most kills in any match.
UC SAN DIEGO'S RECORD ...
• Overall: 13-10
• In Big West matches: 5-5
• In non-conference matches: 8-5
• At home: 7-6
• On the road: 6-4
• In 3 set matches: 4-4
• In 4 set matches: 3-5
• In 5 set matches: 6-1
• Against nationally-ranked teams: 7-7
• Against non-ranked teams: 6-3
• On Wednesdays: 2-2
• On Thursdays: 0-2
• On Fridays: 4-5
• On Saturdays: 7-1
• When out-hitting opponent: 12-0
• When out-hit by opponent: 1-10
• When hitting percentage is equal: 0-0
• When out-acing opponent: 7-1
• When out-aced by opponent: 4-8
• When aces are equal: 2-1
• When out-digging opponent: 10-5
• When out-dug by opponent: 3-5
• When digs are equal: 0-0
• When out-blocking opponent: 4-0
• When out-blocked by opponent: 8-9
• When blocks are equal: 1-1
• When hitting .250 or better: 12-3
• When hitting under .250: 1-7
2022 UC SAN DIEGO INDIVIDUAL MATCH-HIGHS
2022 UC SAN DIEGO TEAM MATCH-HIGHS
| Kills |
70 |
vs. Hawaii |
3/2 |
| Attack Attempts |
146 |
at NJIT |
1/28 |
| Hitting Percentage |
.427 (49-14-82) |
vs. Concordia |
2/19 |
| Assists |
69 |
vs. Hawaii |
3/2 |
| Service Aces |
9 |
at Princeton |
1/29 |
| Digs |
56 |
vs. Hawaii |
3/2 |
| Total Blocks |
12.0 |
at BYU |
2/11 |
|
12.0 |
vs. Harvard |
1/14 |
UC SAN DIEGO AMONG THE 2022 NATIONAL STAT LEADERS (top 10 only)
| Stat |
Value |
National Rank |
| Attacks/Set |
27.96 |
6 |
| Assists/Set |
12.05 |
7 |
| Kills/Set |
12.82 |
8 |
| Digs/Set |
9.13 |
11 |
| Hitting Percentage |
.281 |
19 |
TRITONS AMONG THE 2022 NATIONAL STAT LEADERS (top 20 only)
2022 BOX SCORES
• 4/16:
No. 6 UC Santa Barbara 3, No. 9 UC San Diego 1
• 4/9:
No. 10 UC San Diego 3, No. 2 Long Beach State 2
• 4/8:
No. 2 Long Beach State 3, No. 10 UC San Diego 0
• 4/1:
No. 10 UC San Diego 3, CSUN 0
• 3/31:
CSUN 3, No. 10 UC San Diego 0
• 3/26:
No. 10 UC San Diego 3, No. 13. UC Irvine 2
• 3/25:
No. 10 UC San Diego 3, No. 13 UC Irvine 1
• 3/9:
No. 10 UC San Diego 3, Concordia 1
• 3/4:
No. 3 Hawaii 3, No. 10 UC San Diego 0
• 3/2:
No. 10 UC San Diego 3, No. 3 Hawaii 2
• 2/24:
No. 6 UC Santa Barbara 3, No. 11 UC San Diego 1
• 2/19:
No. 11 UC San Diego 3, Concordia 0
• 2/18:
No. 11 UC San Diego 3, UC Santa Cruz 0
• 2/12:
No. 14 UC San Diego 3, No. 11 BYU 2
• 2/11:
No. 14 UC San Diego 3, No. 11 BYU 2
• 2/9:
No. 2 UCLA 3, No. 14 UC San Diego 1
• 2/4:
Concordia Irvine 3, No. 13 UC San Diego 1
• 2/2:
No. 7 USC 3, No. 13 UC San Diego 0
• 1/29:
No. 12 UC San Diego 3, Princeton 2
• 1/28:
NJIT 3, No. 12 UC San Diego 2
• 1/21:
No. 6 Grand Canyon 3, No. 8 UC San Diego 1
• 1/15:
No. 10 UC San Diego 3, No. 12 Stanford 0
• 1/14:
No. 10 UC San Diego 3, Harvard 1
AVCA NATIONAL POLL
(4/18/22)
1. UCLA
2. Penn State
3. Long Beach State
4. Hawaii
5. USC
6. UC Santa Barbara
7. Ball State
8. Pepperdine
9. UC San Diego
10. Grand Canyon
11. Loyola-Chicago
12. Lewis
13. Stanford
14. UC Irvine
15. Purdue Fort Wayne
Receiving Votes: Lincoln Memorial, McKendree, CSUN, NJIT
Dropped Out: McKendree 15
ROCK THE VOTE
Here's a look at where UC San Diego has stood in this season's AVCA National Poll.
• 4/18: 9th
• 4/11: 9th
• 4/4: 10th
• 3/28: 9th
• 3/21: 10th
• 3/14: 10th
• 3/7: 10th
• 2/28: 10th
• 2/21: 11th
• 2/14: 11th
• 2/7: 14th
• 1/31: 13th
• 1/24: 12th
• 1/17: 8th
• 1/10: 10th
• Preseason: 10th
BIG RANKINGS FOR THE BIG WEST
Five of the six Big West Conference teams can be found in this week's AVCA Top 15 National Poll. CSUN is receiving votes this week.
3. Long Beach State
4. Hawaii
6. UC Santa Barbara
9. UC San Diego
14. UC Irvine
2022 BIG WEST PRESEASON POLL
T-1. Hawai'i (3 first place votes), 21 points
T-1. Long Beach State (3), 21
3. UC San Diego, 19
T-4. UC Irvine, 11
T-4. UC Santa Barbara, 11
6. CSUN, 7
2021 CAMPAIGN IN BULLET POINTS
• The Tritons opened the season on February 24. It was the team's first match since March 11 of 2020 (350 days) due to the pandemic.
• Outside hitter
Kyle McCauley named AVCA All-America Honorable Mention
• Outside hitter
Kyle McCauley named to All-Big West Conference First Team
• Outside hitter
Kyle McCauley named Big West Conference All-Academic
• Middle blocker
Shane Benetz named All-Big West Conference Honorable Mention
• The Tritons earned their first-ever postseason win when they defeated CSUN, 3-1, in the first round of the Big West Tournament
• UC San Diego took down No. 1-ranked, top-seeded, and undefeated Hawaii, 3-2, in a Big West Tournament semifinal
• The Tritons advanced to the championship match of the Big West Tournament for the first time ever
2021 HONOR ROLL
•
Kyle McCauley: AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, All-Big West Conference First Team, Off the Block Preseason All-America First Team, Big West All-Academic, UC San Diego All-Triton Scholar-Athlete Team, UCSDTritons.com Athlete of the Week (4/26)
•
Shane Benetz: All-Big West Conference Honorable Mention, Big West All-Academic
UC SAN DIEGO AND COVID-19
UC San Diego's nationally renowned Return to Learn program was created to return to in-person teaching, learning, conducting pioneering research, and serving our communities in the safest way possible. The program has three adaptive pillars that are central to our strategy to resume on-campus activity: risk mitigation, viral detection, and intervention. For the latest information on UC San Diego and COVID-19, please visit the University's
Return to Learn site.
WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.
HEAD COACH KEVIN RING
Now in his 17th season heading up the UC San Diego men's volleyball program,
Kevin Ring currently owns a 132-323 (.290) overall record at the school. Ring got his start as the Tritons' team manager from 1989-91 before playing for the team for three seasons. He was an assistant coach for nine years and was named head coach in June of 2005. He has also been extensively involved with USA Volleyball. Ring earned two degrees from UC San Diego, graduating with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry in 1996, followed by a master's in chemistry in 1998. For Ring's complete bio,
click here.
NCAA MEN'S VOLLEYBALL LANDSCAPE
The NCAA combines Division I and Division II teams into a single national championship (National Collegiate Championship), while Division III squads have a stand-alone championship (NCAA Division III National Championship). There are 58 Division I and Division II teams combined, with 44 of those making up six conferences. Another 14 institutions are independent.
In 2023, the Northeast Conference (NEC) will become the seventh conference to compete at the Division I/II level in men's volleyball. Of the six programs that will make up the NEC, two are current independents (Fairleigh Dickinson and LIU, both of which started competition in the 2022 season), one will start a new varsity program in 2023 (Merrimack), and three will move from the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis (PA)).
Big West Conference (6)
CSUN (DI)
Hawai'i (DI)
Long Beach State (DI)
UC Irvine (DI)
UC San Diego (DI)
UC Santa Barbara (DI)
Conference Carolinas (8)
Barton (DII)
Belmont Abbey (DII)
Emmanuel (GA) (DII)
Erskine (DII)
King (TN) (DII)
Lees-McRae (DII)
Mount Olive (DII)
North Greenville (DII)
Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (9)
Charleston (WV) (DII)
George Mason (DI)
Harvard (DI)
NJIT (DI)
Penn State (DI)
Princeton (DI)
Sacred Heart (DI)
Saint Francis (PA) (DI)
St. Francis Brooklyn (DI)
Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (8)
Ball State (DI)
Lewis (DII)
Lindenwood (DII)
Loyola Chicago (DI)
McKendree (DII)
Ohio State (DI)
Purdue Fort Wayne (DI)
Quincy (DII)
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (7)
BYU (DI)
Concordia Irvine (DII)
Grand Canyon (DI)
Pepperdine (DI)
Stanford (DI)
UCLA (DI)
USC (DI)
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (6)
Benedict (DII)
Central State (DII)
Edward Waters (DII)
Fort Valley State (DII)
Kentucky State (DII)
Morehouse (DII)
Independent (14)
Alderson Broaddus (DII)
American International (DII)
Daemen (DII)
D'Youville (DII)
Fairleigh Dickinson (DII)
Limestone (DII)
Lincoln Memorial (DII)
Long Island University (DII)
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Queens (NC) (DII)
Tusculum (DII)
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FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the
Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!
GEAR HERE
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories, visit the official team store of the Tritons
here.
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.
