SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC San Diego men's volleyball team battled for a gritty, five-set win against NJIT Saturday at UC Santa Barbara's Asics Invitational.

Scores from Robertston Gym went 33-35, 25-20, 23-25, 25-22, and 15-10.

The Tritons improved to 2-1 on the season. UC San Diego defeated 20th-ranked George Mason Thursday and lost to No. 7 Grand Canyon Friday prior to today's nail-biter.

NJIT is 0-3 on the year.
 
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The opening set score (35-33) was certainly a harbinger of the marathon match that was to unfold. The back-and-forth thriller featured 35 tie scores, 21 of those coming in set one. That first set had five lead changes while sets two, three, four, and five saw the lead change hands just five total times (two in set three, three in set four).

UC San Diego displayed a well-rounded performance with a solid offense and a stifling defense at the net. The Tritons out-hit their opponent .304 (58-17-135) to .193 (59-31-145) and owned a massive, 21-5 advantage in blocks.

Three Tritons left the floor with a double-digit kill total including Anthony Cherfan (15), Sebastian Lara (13), and Matthew Lim (10). Cherfan totaled a team-high 19.5 points by adding two aces and five blocks. Lara was close behind with 18.5 points as he had nine blocks (two solo) to go along with his kill total. Speaking of blocks, Peter Selcho set a new career high with 12, eclipsing his previous best by five. Cherfan and Jim Garrison had five blocks each.

Eight different Tritons had at least one block with six of those tallying multiple stuffs.

Evan Boyle collected a match-high 15 digs, which equaled his career best. Cameron Wurl dished out 44 assists to pace the offense.

Lim and Selcho were named to the all-tournament team.

The Highlanders got a match-high 26 kills from Alessandro Negri while Will Migdal had 13 kills.

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WHAT HEAD COACH BRAD ROSTRATTER HAD TO SAY
"That was an electric match for us to go ahead and find a way to win when some phases of the game were working well for us and others were a bit more of a struggle. It is awesome to see this team learn how to find ways to compete. Throughout matches when different things are working well that will lead to more positive results over time. I'm so proud of how we competed and how we're learning to play together and compete together. We're excited for our road trip next week."

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TRITON TIDBITS
• The Tritons are receiving votes in the first AVCA National Poll of the season.
• The last time the Tritons and Highlanders
• UC San Diego has scored at least 30 points in a set on many occasions. However, on Feb. 11, 2012, at home against BYU, the Tritons took the second set 42-40.
• Triton career debuts: Saturday - None. Friday - Luke Chandler, Leo Wiemelt. Thursday - Anthony Cherfan, Sebastian Lara, Cameron Wurl.
• Matthew Lim started the first three matches of 2023 and missed the next 22 due to injury.

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NEXT UP
UC San Diego plays its next two contests on the road as well. The Tritons head to the Midwest to take on Ball State on Jan. 11 and Ohio State on Jan. 13.

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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.