ROMEOVILLE, Ill. — No. 11 UC San Diego men's volleyball's first five set match of the season saw the Tritons take a dramatic 22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 15-12 victory on the road at No. 9 Lewis on Friday.
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Luke Chandler tallied 17 kills while hitting .375 to lead the Tritons in both categories.
Sebastiano Sani had 14 kills and four blocks, two solo and two assisted. Setter
John Luers subbed in halfway through the second set and went on to start the final three frames, finishing with 32 assists. The senior also had two kills, three blocks (one solo) and a team-high seven digs.
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Lewis managed 15 blocks to UC San Diego's nine, but the Tritons still out-hit the Flyers .293 to .227. The two teams combined for 57 service errors. The Tritons are now 4-3 this season, while Lewis fell to 5-3.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons had an early 5-2 lead, but that was quickly erased after four-straight points by the Flyers. The set was close throughout with a total of 14 ties, but the Tritons would only take the lead one more time at 13-12. The Flyers never led by more than two until pulling ahead late, going up 23-20 and hanging on to take the first 25-22.
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Lewis had a strong start to set two, building a 16-10 advantage thanks in large part to a total of five service aces in the frame. But UC San Diego did not go away, using a 9-2 run to go in front 19-18.
Josh Ewert led the Tritons with three kills and an ace during that stretch. The two teams then traded points until the set was tied at 23, with a pair of Triton mistakes ultimately giving Lewis the 25-23 win.
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Set three was as tight as the rest of the match, with the two teams knotted at 19 late. The Tritons then won five of the next six points despite Lewis using both timeouts to take a 24-20 lead. UC San Diego was fueled by two blocks at the end of that stretch, one by Luers and
Jim Garrison and another by Sani and
Peter Selcho. Lewis staved off three set points to make the ending interesting, but a Selcho kill ended the set at 25-23 to extend the match.
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The two sides traded the lead to start set four until a 5-1 spurt by the Tritons put them up 18-14. Luers and Sani both had kills, and Ewert added an ace during that run that ended with Sani teaming up with Chandler for a block. But Lewis would come back to tie the set at 21 and again at 23 before Ewert and Garrison landed kills to see UC San Diego win another set 25-23.
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A kill and solo block by Sani helped the Tritons start the decisive fifth set up 4-1, but that edge was erased as Lewis led 7-5 and then maintained the advantage to 9-7. The Tritons then took the lead back after winning four-straight points, the last of which was another Sani kill. The visitors would never relinquish the lead as they stretched an 11-9 gap out to a 15-12 set five win. Lewis got within one at 13-12 after a Chandler kill, but two-straight errors by the hosts ended the match.
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TRITON TIDBITS
- Ewert had three aces, marking the fifth time this season the outside hitter has recorded multiple aces. He has at least one ace in every match thus far, and the junior's 15 total aces have Ewert at 14th nationally in aces per set.
- The victory marked the Tritons' first reverse sweep since March 15, 2023. Lewis has now been reverse swept in two-straight matches.
- The Tritons now have two victories this season after their opponent recorded more blocks. UC San Diego was 1-5 last year when getting out-blocked.
- Friday's victory was just the second time in the last five years that the Tritons beat a top-10 team on the road.
QUOTABLE
"Heck of a battle for our guys tonight," head coach
Brad Rostratter said. "We earned every single point, we had to. I was really proud of guys being able to step up and fill into different roles and do different things out on the court. Being able to make some changes defensively and to dig and turn more balls in transition was really key to us being successful."
UP NEXT
Another top-10 opponent awaits UC San Diego on the road tomorrow. The Tritons will play No. 7 Loyola Chicago, with the match beginning at 5:00 p.m. PST on ESPN+.
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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 24-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 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 39 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in NCAA Division I or II. For more information on the Tritons, visit UCSDtritons.comÂ
or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.
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