LA JOLLA, Calif. - The No. 13 UC San Diego men's volleyball team shook off a slow start and defeated No. 19 Princeton 3-1 Monday at LionTree Arena.
It was the sixth consecutive win for the Tritons.
Set scores were 19-25, 25-23, 25-14, and 25-19 in favor of UC San Diego, which upped its record to 15-4 with the non-conference victory.
Princeton fell under .500 with the loss, moving to 6-7.
HOW IT HAPPENED
As they have done most of the season, the Tritons out-hit their opponent .250 to .244. They were also strong from the service line, finishing with 10 aces to the Tigers' two.
Opposite Anthony Cherfan put down a team-high 15 kills while outside Josh Schellinger had 11. The duo accounted for 62 percent of UC San Diego's 42 kills.
Cherfan also contributed three aces, four blocks, and two digs. Schellinger had six digs on the defensive side of the ball.
Middle blocker Nick Rigo, named the Big West Defensive Player of the Week earlier in the day, produced five kills, six blocks, and an ace. Libero Sebastian Lara ended his night with a match-best seven digs.
Outside hitter Leo Pravednikov had seven kills, four aces, five digs, and two blocks. His ace total matched his career-high.
Setter Bryce Dvorak dished out 38Â assists plus six digs and two aces.
Princeton's offense was paced by Mason Rice and Nyherowo Omene, who had 18 and 13 kills, respectively. Roan Alviar and Henry Wedbush each had seven digs. Five Tigers had multiple blocks.
The opening set saw Princeton hit .412 to UC San Diego's -.118. The Tritons picked it up in a major way in the second frame, posting a .500 attack with 18 kills and four errors in 28 attempts. It was the team's best offensive output of the match.
SEBASTIAN LARA INTERVIEW
TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego has posted a higher attack percentage than its opponent in 16 of 19 matches.
• It was the 10th match of the season in which the Tritons took on a national top-20 team. They are 6-4 in those contests.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego hosts Big West opponent UC Santa Barbara Friday at 6 p.m. The two teams played one another on March 7 in Santa Barbara with the Tritons downing the Gauchos 3-1.
The first 250 students will get free pizza.
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 has begun a new era as a member of The Big West inÂ
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 garnered 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. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.comÂ
or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
