HONOLULU, Hawai'i – UC San Diego defeated UC Santa Barbara, 3-2, Thursday in a Big West Men's Volleyball Championship quarterfinal to move on to the semis.
The fourth-seeded and 10th-ranked Tritons will meet top seed and No. 1-ranked Long Beach State Friday at 7:30 p.m. Pacific with the winner advancing to Saturday's title match.
Set scores from SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center were 20-25, 27-25, 25-22, 23-25, and 15-13 in favor of UC San Diego, which improved to 18-11 on the season.Â
The Gauchos' season ends at 12-16.
HOW IT HAPPENEDÂ
UC San Diego was tough at the net, finishing with a season-high 17.5 blocks. The Tritons held the Gauchos to a .273 attack while hitting .299 themselves.
Josh Schellinger led UC San Diego with 22 kills, a new career high for the outside hitter. His 12 digs also established a new career best. He also added five blocks.
Sebastian Lara put away 16 kills, one short of his career high. He also had four blocks and four digs. Peter Selcho also had a career high with 11 kills while hitting .647.
In the middle, Selcho and Jim Garrison each had eight blocks.
For the Gauchos, Geste Bianchi led all players with 24 kills. Ben Coordt followed with 19 kills and Ben Pearson had 11.
About UC San Diego AthleticsÂ
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 Conference 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.
