LA JOLLA, Calif. — Outside hitter
Ryan Ka dropped a match-high 28 kills to lead UC San Diego men's volleyball to a five-set victory against Big West rival UC Santa Barbara Friday on Senior Night.
Scores from LionTree Arena went 25-20, 20-25, 19-25, 25-14, and 15-13 in favor of the Tritons, who moved to 8-14 and 2-6 in the Big West. The Gauchos fell to 5-16 and 1-7.
The win moved UC San Diego into fourth place in the six-team Big West, ahead of CSUN (1-6) and UCSB.
It was the final home match of the season for UC San Diego. Prior to first serve, the three Triton seniors - Ka, opposite
Berkeley Miesfeld, and middle blocker
Michael Urdahl - were celebrated in front of a crowd of over 850 loud fans.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
After falling behind 6-1 in the fifth and deciding set, middle
Jim Garrison floored a kill that kicked off a 6-0 run by the Tritons. During that span, Ka exploded for four kills, while Garrison and Miesfeld had a double block on Gaucho All-American Ryan Wilcox. The teams traded points up until 9-9, at which point the Tritons pulled away after mounting a 4-1 run that put them in front 13-10.
Nick Rigo tallied a kill and a block while Ka added another kill to his totals during that stretch. A later kill from Ka made it 14-12. UC Santa Barbara was able to quash one match point, but Ka put an exclamation point on it with yet another kill to seal the Triton victory.
Ka's 28 kills were the second-most of his career, three short of the 31 he put down against Ball State on March 5 of this season. He also added six digs, two blocks, a service ace, and an assist in his all-around impressive outing against UCSB.
Josh Schellinger finished his night with nine kills, 10 digs, three assists, two aces, and a block.
Nick Rigo had eight kills while Miesfeld had a career- and match-best 14 digs as well as four blocks. Garrison totaled seven blocks and hit .750 with six kills and no errors in eight attack attempts. Setter
Gabriel Dyer amassed 47 assists, three kills, seven digs, and two blocks.
As a team, UC San Diego hit .248 with 58 kills and 24 errors in 137 swings.
The Gauchos held a .201 attack percentage with 53 kills and 26 errors in 134 attempts. Nick Amoruso led the team with 21 kills and Wilcox followed with 17. Conor Dunn had five blocks and Jack Walmer had 10 digs.
Both teams had 11 blocks and four aces.
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INTERVIEW WITH THE SENIORS
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SCENES FROM SENIOR NIGHT
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TRITON TIDBITS
• The victory evened the season series against UC Santa Barbara at 1-1. The Gauchos took a 3-1 win in Santa Barbara on March 3.
• It was the fourth five-set match for the Tritons this season. The team is an even 2-2 in those contests.
• Nine Tritons have made their collegiate debuts so far this season:
Evan Boyle,
Josh Ewert,
Jim Garrison,
Michael Robertson,
Brett Pursley,
Josh Schellinger,
Peter Selcho,
Sam Warren, and
Zachary Weston.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego wraps up its regular season with a pair of matches at No. 1-ranked Hawai'i on April 14 and April 15. The Big West Championships are scheduled for April 20-22 at UC Irvine.
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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.
