LA JOLLA, Calif. — UC San Diego men's volleyball (1-0) secured a 3-1 victory over Jessup (0-1) on Tuesday night at LionTree Arena in both teams' season opener. The Tritons prevailed with set scores of 25-20, 25-22, 22-25, and 25-20.
 
UC San Diego's attack featured a .315 hitting percentage. Jessup had a .240 hitting percentage but stayed competitive thanks to 11.5 total team blocks.
 
Josh Ewert led the Tritons with 17 kills and three aces. Leo Pravednikov added 15 kills while hitting .385, with Sebastiano Sani joining the double-digit kills tally with 11. John Luers powered the offense with 50 assists.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The match began with Jessup in control for most of set one, leading throughout the frame until the Tritons finally went in front 18-17. Jessup tied the set again on the next rally before the Tritons closed on a 7-2 run to win 25-20. Four different Tritons registered kills during that stretch, with Ewert and Peter Selcho both landing two.
 
Set two saw the Tritons maintain a comfortable lead throughout as the Warriors were held to a hitting percentage of .125, their worst clip of the match. At one point UC San Diego led 23-17 before a 4-1 burst from the Warriors made the finish interesting as the Tritons led 24-22. Selcho then landed a kill in the next rally to give the hosts the 25-22 victory.
 
The Tritons still hit a solid .312 in set three but were outdone by a .464 percentage from the Warriors. Jessup used a 9-2 run late in the frame to take a 23-20 lead before kills by Ewert and Pravednikov brought the Tritons back within one. But Jessup was able to avoid the sweep with a kill and solo block to take the third set 25-22.
 
Jessup only led once in set four as the Tritons closed out the match with a 25-20 victory. Ewert started the set off with back-to-back aces. The Triton lead later grew to 16-10 after two blocks by Leo Wiemelt, one of which was assisted by Sani. The set then ended the same way it began as Ewert scored for the Tritons, this time recording a kill off an assist from Luers.

QUOTABLE
"I liked that our guys continued to work through things," head coach Brad Rostratter said. "I think there is a lot we have to be better with, but overall they found some solutions through a pretty new lineup that we were trying out tonight."

TRITON TIDBITS

• UC San Diego is now 4-0 in season openers under Rostratter.
• Ewert's 17 kills were a career high, topping his previous high of nine that he set as a freshman in 2023.

UP NEXT
The Tritons welcome Daemen to LionTree Arena on Friday. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m., with the match also broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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 in 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.com or follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media @UCSDtritons.