SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In its third and final match at the season-opening Asics Invitational, the UC San Diego men's volleyball team was edged in five sets by USC, the 10th-ranked team in the country, Saturday.
The Tritons won the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-20. The Trojans were able to recover and win the next three sets by scores of 25-16, 25-22, and 15-12.
UC San Diego is now 1-2 on the season while USC improved to 2-1.
The Tritons defeated Lincoln Memorial Thursday, also a five-setter, to open their season. Friday, they were swept by second-ranked UCLA.
UC Santa Barbara is hosting the tourney at Robertson Gymnasium.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The fifth set saw the Tritons get out to a 3-1 lead after three-straight kills, one by
Berkeley Miesfeld and two from
Matthew Lim. The Trojans rallied to win the next three points to go up by a score of 4-3 and they would not trail again. From that point, UC San Diego tied the score on six occasions, the final time at 12-12 on a USC error from the service line. The Trojans reeled off the final three points of the match, two on kills from Simon Gallas and Dillon Klein and another on a UC San Diego attack error.
Ryan Ka put down a team-best 18 kills and added three aces for a total of 21 points. Lim and Miesfeld both finished with 15 kills, which matched Lim's career high and established a new career best for Miesfeld. Both Lim and Miesfeld hit over .400 on the night.
Speaking of career highs, setter
Gabriel Dyer had 50 assists, topping his previous best by nine.
Ka and freshman
Evan Boyle both had a match-high 10 digs.
UC San Diego hit .345 with 58 kills and 18 errors in 116 attack attempts.
USC's Dillon Klein led all players with 20 kills while hitting .500. Gallas finished with 12 and Kevin Kobrine had 10. Gallas also contributed four blocks in the win.
The Trojans hit .370 with 59 kills and 12 miscues in 127 swings.
UC San Diego came out firing, hitting .500 (14-2-24) in the first set and .455 (14-4-22) in the second. In the third, the Tritons dropped to .115 (9-6-26), but recovered by hitting .393 (15-4-28) in the fourth. Unfortunately, USC countered with no errors and hit .457 (16-0-35) to tie the contest at two sets apiece.
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TRITON TIDBITS
•
Gabriel Dyer's previous career-high for assists was 41, which he recorded Thursday against Lincoln Memorial. Coming into the season, his assist high was 33 at UC Santa Barbara in February of 2022.
• Miesfeld's previous career high for kills was nine, set against McKendree in 2020.
• UC San Diego's last win against USC came in 2021.
• UC San Diego holds a 99-86 edge over its opponents in total digs after three matches.
• Six Tritons 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 heads to the Midwest to play Loyola-Chicago on Jan. 13 and Lewis on Jan. 14. Following that road trip, the Tritons play their first home match on Jan. 17 against Emmanuel.
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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.
