LA JOLLA, Calif. — In front of a record 2,474 fans, No. 20 UC San Diego dropped a deceptively close 3-0 match against reigning national champion and second-ranked UCLA Friday in men's volleyball action at LionTree Arena.

Set scores were 25-18, 27-25, and 25-17.

With the loss, the Tritons dropped to 2-6, while the Bruins upped their overall mark to 6-2.

HOW IT HAPPENED 
UCLA finished the night with a .432 (44-9-81) attack percentage to UC San Diego's .179 (25-13-67). The Bruins also led in service aces (4-2), blocks (9-5), and digs (25-19).

The first set saw UCLA get out to a 7-3 lead following a kill by Andrew Rowan. A kill by Peter Selcho and a triple block from Selcho, Anthony Cherfan, and Sebastian Lara kept the Tritons close at 7-5. Back-to-back kills from UC San Diego's Matthew Lim evened the score at 9-9, the first tie of the match. 

The Tritons kept it close, staying within three points of the opposition up to 18-15 after a Cherfan kill. UC San Diego would get no closer than those three points. Leading 22-18, UCLA took off, finishing the set with three-straight points to claim the 25-18 opening set win. 

Both sides struggled from the service line in the first set, hitting the net or overshooting the lines on 14 occasions - eight for UC San Diego and six for UCLA. 

The Tritons locked in for the second set, hitting their stride with a .259 (11-4-27) attack, their highest of the match. 

Jim Garrison was in on UC San Diego's first two points with a kill and a block along with Cherfan. Back-to-back service aces from Andrew Boyle prompted a UCLA timeout as the Tritons took a 9-5 lead. Coming back to the floor, UC San Diego won five of the next seven points to go up by seven, their largest lead of the set, at 14-7.

The Bruins began chipping away at the Tritons' lead, starting with a three-point run. After a Lim kill had it at 20-17 in favor UC San Diego, UCLA compiled a six-point spree to move in front, 23-20. The Tritons got back within a single point after a Garrison kill plus a block by Garrison and Andrew Boyle. A Triton serve error gave the Bruins set point at 24-22, but UC San Diego won the next two points on Josh Schellinger and Andrew Boyle kills. A Sebastian Lara kill on set point number two had both teams at 25-25, but the war of attrition was won 27-25 by UCLA following a Triton service error and a Bruin block. 

Cherfan finished with a team-high seven kills while Lara had five and Lim totaled four. Setter Andrew Boyle had 20 assists and a pair of aces.

UCLA's Ethan Champlin led all players with 17 kills. Merrick McHenry had five blocks and Andrew Rowan finished with three aces.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS  


WHAT HEAD COACH BRAD ROSTRATTER HAD TO SAY


TRITON TIDBITS 
• The 2,474 fans in attendance were the highest in the team's history.
• It was the team's first-ever crowd of 2,000 or more.
• The Tritons have drawn a crowd of at least 1,000 six times (2,474 1/26/24 vs. UCLA; 1,689 3/2/13 vs. BYU; 1,648 1/25/19 vs. UCLA; 1,505 2/9/22 vs. UCLA; 1,069 4/16/22 vs. UC Santa Barbara; 1,012 3/5/11 vs. Stanford).
• Andrew Boyle set new career highs in digs (6) and aces (2).
• UCLA was coming off a five-set loss to UC Santa Barbara Thursday in Los Angeles.
• The Tritons are now 7-62 against UCLA in a series that has spanned over 40 years. Their last win over the Bruins came on Jan. 17, 2020 (3-0 in La Jolla).
• Friday's match was preceded by a beanie giveaway for UC San Diego students.

NEXT UP
UC San Diego concludes its current four-match home stand against No. 13 USC on Wed., Jan. 31. First serve is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are available through the Triton Box Office.

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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.