LA JOLLA, Calif. — No. 10 UC San Diego men's volleyball won its third-straight match via sweep on Monday afternoon with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-15 victory over UC Merced.
 
The Tritons improved to 7-4 on the year and 5-1 at home. They hit a season-high .507 in the match while holding the Bobcats to .095.
 
Leo Pravednikov led the Tritons with 14 kills and no errors, hitting .700 in the process. Josh Ewert hit .412 on his nine kills to go along with an ace and three blocks. Ben Warren had five kills and a .571 attack percentage plus four blocks, one of which was solo.
 
The Tritons had 10 total blocks and were led by Leo Wiemelt, who had five. Cameron Wurl and John Luers split the setting duties. Wurl finished with 21 assists, one kill and one ace. Luers had 17 assists.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego breezed through set one, hitting .708 and recording 17 kills. Pravednikov had seven of his kills in the first on seven swings. The Tritons jumped out to a 12-5 lead and never looked back, taking the set 25-15 after a kill by Warren.
 
Set two was the closest of the night as the Tritons hit a match-low .294 and the Bobcats hit a match-high .192. The score was tied at 15 before UC San Diego won four of the next five rallies, prompting a UC Merced timeout with the hosts leading 19-16. The Tritons were able to keep that same margin after the stoppage as they went on to win 25-21.
 
The third set started close as the Tritons led 14-13 before closing the match on an 11-2 run. Seven of those points came on Triton kills, with another two coming on blocks. Warren had three of those kills and assisted on both blocks, and Tyler Stewart added two kills of his own as the Tritons won the final set 25-15.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Warren, a redshirt freshman middle blocker, made his collegiate debut on Monday. He came off the bench in the first set before starting the final two sets.
• Stewart, a sophomore setter, made his sixth appearance of the year when he came off the bench in the third set. His two kills were his first of the season.
• The match was only one hour and 18 minutes long, good for the Tritons' shortest contest of the season. 

UP NEXT
UC San Diego hits the road this weekend for a match at Menlo on Saturday, Feb. 21. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
 
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.