MUNCIE, Ind. — The UC San Diego men's volleyball team ran into a hot-hitting Ball State on the road Thursday and fell in straight sets.
Scores at Worthen Arena were 28-26, 25-13, and 25-20.
The 17th-ranked Tritons dropped to an even 2-2, while the 13th-ranked Cardinals moved to 4-2.
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HOW IT HAPPENEDÂ Â
Ball State hit a blistering .600 for the match with 51 kills and only six errors in 75 attack attempts. UC San Diego countered at .293, putting down 36 kills with 12 errors in 82 swings.
The Cardinals held advantages in most statistical categories including kills (51-36), blocks (6-0), assists (48-35), aces (4-1), and digs (24-14).
Individually, UC San Diego was led offensively by
Anthony Cherfan, who finished with 13 kills and hit .550 (13-2-20). He also added three digs as well as the Tritons' lone service ace of the match.
Sebastian Lara had nine kills.
Cameron Wurl totaled 26 assists while
Evan Boyle led the team in digs with four.
Ball State got 14 kills from Patrick Rogers and another 12 from Aaron Hernandez. Hernandez also had four blocks and three digs.
Tied at 26-26 in third set, the Cardinals got back-to-back points with a Hernandez kill and a Triton attack error to secure the victory.
UC San Diego's top hitting set was the first as it swung at .342. Ball State hit .750 in the second frame.
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TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego is now 0-5 in the all-time series against Ball State.
• Six players have made their Triton career debuts this season including:
Luke Chandler,
Anthony Cherfan,
Sebastian Lara,
Leo Pravednikov,
Leo Wiemelt, and
Cameron Wurl.
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NEXT UP
UC San Diego remains in the Midwest to take on No. 5 Ohio State Saturday (4 p.m. Pacific).
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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 84 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.
