LOS ANGELES — The UC San Diego men's volleyball team kept itself in the match but was ultimately swept by UCLA, the second-ranked team in the country, Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion.
Scores in Los Angeles were 25-15, 25-23, and 25-18.Â
The Tritons drop to 3-5 while the Bruins remain undefeated at 5-0.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
UCLA led wire-to-wire in the opening set. Ahead 17-12, the Bruins used a four-point run to go up 21-12 and UC San Diego could not claw its way back in. UCLA was efficient, hitting .700 (15-1-20) in the frame.
In the second set, UC San Diego took its first lead of the night at 7-6 following back-to-back kills by
Ryan Ka. Later trailing 16-12, the Tritons struck for a 6-2 run and brought it even at 18-18. A Bruin attack error put UC San Diego in front, 19-18. However, at that point UCLA won three consecutive points to go back in front, 21-19. The Tritons won the next three points to reclaim the lead, 22-21, off of two Bruin serve errors and another kill by Ka. UCLA answered with the fourth-straight three-point run by putting down two kills and getting a block at the net. With UC San Diego down 24-22, another error by UCLA at the service line brought the Tritons back within a single point. However, Ido David floored a kill to give the Bruins the set and a 2-0 lead in the match.
UC San Diego led early in the third set, but yet another three-point run gave UCLA a 5-3 advantage. Trailing 16-10, UC San Diego reeled off six-straight points to knot it up. During that burst, Ka had two kills while
Nick Rigo and
Josh Schellinger had one each.
Gabriel Dyer and
Jim Garrison also paired up on a block during the run. UCLA quickly responded and took six of the next seven points, giving the home team a 22-17 lead. Making his collegiate debut, Triton freshman Josh Ewert collected his second kill of the night, but it would be the final point earned by the Tritons. Three-straight kills, the first from Merrick McHenry and the other two from David, shut the door on the Tritons and gave the Bruins the sweep.Â
UC San Diego held an attack percentage of .195 with 33 kills and 16 errors in 87 attempts. The Tritons hit .000 in the opening set, picked up the pace and hit .323 in the second, but dropped back in the third, posting a .194.
Ka and Schellinger matched one another with 11 kills apiece. Libero
Evan Boyle had a match-high eight digs.
UCLA attacked at an impressive .463 clip with 46 kills and just eight errors in 82 attempts. The Bruins led in points (59-38), kills (46-33), blocks (9-4), aces (4-1), and digs (27-19).
UCLA got a match-high 18 kills by David, who hit .607 (18-1-28) on the night.
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TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego and UCLA played one another on Jan. 6 at UC Santa Barbara's Gaucho Invitational. The Bruins won that match in straight sets.
• Nine Tritons have made their collegiate debuts so far this season:
Evan Boyle,
Joshua Ewert,
Jim Garrison,
Michael Robertson,
Brett Pursley,
Josh Schellinger,
Peter Selcho,
Sam Warren,
Zachary Weston.
•
Brad Rostratter, who was named UC San Diego's head coach on Oct. 7, 2022, earned his first win with the Tritons on Jan. 5 when they defeated Lincoln Memorial.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego stays on the road and heads to Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. There, the Tritons play Erskine on Jan. 28 and GCU on Jan. 29.
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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 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 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.
