SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — UC San Diego ran into a strong attack and a tough serve Friday, falling in straight sets to second-ranked UCLA at the Asics Invitational men's volleyball tournament.
Scores of the match went 25-18, 25-16, and 25-14 in favor of the Bruins, who improved to 2-0 on the young season. The Tritons, who defeated Lincoln Memorial Thursday night to open their season, dropped to 1-1 after today's loss.
UC Santa Barbara is hosting the tourney at Robertson Gymnasium.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
In a repeat of Thursday's match, UC San Diego came out strong in the opening set, hitting .471 with 10 kills and just two errors in 17 attack attempts. Unfortunately, the Tritons couldn't keep that pace up as they hit -.053 in the second set and .000 in the third to finish at .121 (23-16-58).
On the other side of the net, UCLA hit .333 in the first set, .462 in the second, and .368 in the third. For the match, the Bruins came in at .377 with 27 kills and seven errors in 53 swings.
UCLA was on point from the service line, finishing with 18 aces to UC San Diego's two.
For the second-straight match, outside hitter
Ryan Ka led UC San Diego offensively, collecting eight kills.
Nick Rigo followed with six. He hit an efficient .600, getting those kills on 10 attempts.
Making his collegiate debut Friday,
Peter Selcho had four kills and hit .800 (4-0-5).
Michael Robertson, also playing in his first collegiate contest, had a match-high four digs.
Evan Boyle equaled him with four digs of his own.
Setter
Gabriel Dyer amassed 19 assists, two digs, and a block.
UCLA's Cole Ketrzynski posted a match-high with nine kills in addition to two aces and three block assists.
Six Bruins had multiple aces, including setter Andrew Rowan, who accounted for six of the team's 18.
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TRITON TIDBITS
•
Nick Rigo is hitting .545 (14-2-22) overall after posting a .500 (8-2-12) attack percentage Thursday to go along with Friday's .600 (6-0-10) clip.
• UC San Diego holds a 55-52 edge over its opponents in total digs after two matches.
• Six Tritons have made their collegiate debuts during the tournament:
Evan Boyle,
Jim Garrison,
Michael Robertson,
Josh Schellinger,
Peter Selcho, and
Sam Warren.
• Brad Rostratter, who was named UC San Diego's head coach on Oct. 7, 2022, earned his first win with the Tritons Thursday when they defeated Lincoln Memorial.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego concludes tourney play Saturday in Santa Barbara with a match against USC, the 10th-ranked team in the nation. First serve is slated for 5:30 p.m.
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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.
