LA JOLLA, Calif. – No. 18 UC San Diego men's volleyball could not keep its momentum rolling Friday night, suffering a 3-0 Big West loss to No. 5 UC Irvine at LionTree Arena.
All three set scores stood at 25-19.
The Tritons are now 7-9 overall with a 1-1 mark in Big West action. The Anteaters improved to 11-4 with the victory in their season-opening conference match.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Irvine claimed the first point of the opening set and did not give up its lead. The hosts fought to stay close. A 5-2 run anchored by three-straight Sebastian Lara kills kept the Tritons within a single point at 8-7.
From that point, the Anteaters turned up the heat, scoring five of the next six points to go up 13-8. At 18-15, they took six of the next eight points to get to set point at 24-17. UC San Diego staved off two set points due to a pair of UCI attack errors, one due to a block by Josh Schellinger and Jim Garrison. Hilir Henno then had a kill to shut it down and give the Anteaters a 1-0 lead in the match.
The two sides went point-for-point up until 4-4 in the second set. UC Irvine pulled away by winning four of the next five points, but UC San Diego stayed close by doing the same, which included a Sebastian Lara kill, a pair of Anthony Cherfan kills and a Schellinger kill that tied it up at 9-9. The Anteaters took the next four points, but a 5-2 run by the Tritons brought them right back in it, down by a single point at 15-14.
The Triton's relied solely on kills to claim their first 15 points - Schellinger accounted for seven and Cherfan slammed five.
With the Anteaters up one at 19-18, they exploded to take six of the next seven points to close out the frame and move to a 2-0 lead in the match.
Despite the set loss, UC San Diego racked up a .400 attack percentage, its highest of the night. Unfortunately, UC Irvine boasted a .615 attack, its best of the match as well.
The match saw just one lead change, and that occurred in the third set. A Schellinger kill on the opening play gave UC San Diego its first and only lead of the night. It was quickly erased as UC Irvine won the next three points and the Anteaters would not trail again. The Tritons were able to keep it close though. A Schellinger kill tied the score at 11-11, the first time it was even since 1-1. He rang up four more kills during a run that had the Tritons down by one at 20-19. UC Irvine dialed in to close out the game, however, going on an unanswered five-point-run to claim the victory by sweep.
Schellinger connected for a career-high 17 kills. He was closely followed by Cherfan with 13. The duo's combined 30 kills accounted for 75 percent of UC San Diego's total. Schellinger hit a healthy .536 (17-2-28).
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MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
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WHAT JOSH SCHELLINGER HAD TO SAY
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TRITON TIDBITS
• It was Cherfan's eighth double-digit kill performance in 2024.
• Schellinger's previous career-high in kills was 15.
• The Anteaters now hold a 54-15 all-time record against the Tritons.
• For the first time this season, UC San Diego had zero service aces.
• The Tritons' last win against the Anteaters was on March 26, 2022 (3-2 in Irvine).
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UP NEXT
The action between the Tritons and Anteaters moves to Crawford Hall in Orange County for a 6 p.m. contest on Sunday.
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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.
