LA JOLLA, Calif. — No. 10 UC San Diego men's volleyball will return to action with a pair of matches this week against Concordia University Irvine. The Tritons will host the Golden Eagles at LionTree Arena on Wednesday before visiting CUI on Thursday.
 
Both matches will begin at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday's home match will be broadcast on ESPN+ with David Gentile and Kirstin Olsen on the call.
 
MATCH DETAILS
Match 9
No. 10 UC San Diego vs Concordia
Wednesday, Feb. 11 | 7:00 p.m.
LionTree Arena | La Jolla, Calif.
Watch | Live Stats
 
Match 10
No. 10 UC San Diego at Concordia
Thursday, Feb. 12 | 7:00 p.m.
CU Arena | Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats
 
ABOUT THE TRITONS
Roster | Schedule & Results | Statistics

• Location: La Jolla, Calif.
• Conference: Big West
• Overall: 4-4
• Big West: 0-0
• Home: 3-1
• Away: 1-3
• Neutral: 0-0
• vs Ranked: 1-4
• Streak: L1
• AVCA National Ranking: 10
• Big West Preseason Poll: Tied 4th out of 6

 
ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Roster | Schedule & Results | Statistics

• Location: Irvine, Calif.
• Conference: MPSF
• Overall: 3-5
• MPSF: 0-1
• Home: 3-3
• Away: 0-2
• Neutral: 0-0
• vs Ranked: 1-2
• Streak: L3
• AVCA National Ranking: RV
• MPSF Preseason Poll: 6th out of 10

SERIES HISTORY
The two teams have met 17 times, with UC San Diego holding a 9-8 advantage in the series. They have met at least once every year since 2015, with the exception of the pandemic-affected 2021 season.
 
HOMECOMINGS AND FAMILIAR FACES
UC San Diego head coach Brad Rostratter graduated from Concordia in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in communication studies. He played one season for the Golden Eagles as a libero and was a part of the team that won the 2013 NAIA National Championship. Rostratter then spent three seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, earning a master's degree in coaching and athletic administration from CUI along the way.
 
Concordia head coach Jon Girten was an assistant coach at UC San Diego for seven seasons from 2017-24. After spending last year at Grand Canyon, Girten is now in his first season at the helm of CUI.
 
30 FOR 30
Junior outside hitter Sebastiano Sani is the only player to have featured in all 30 of the Tritons' sets so far this season. He is also the only Triton to start all eight of the team's matches.
 
AN ACE BEHIND THE LINE
Junior outside hitter Josh Ewert's 15 aces this season have him 17th nationally in service aces per set. Ewert's streak of at least one ace in every match ended in the Tritons' last match at Loyola Chicago, but he has still registered multiple aces in six out of eight matches.
 
SEBA SCORES
Sani is 38th nationally in kills per set (3.27), 39th in points per set (3.87) and 48th in hitting percentage (.313).
 
AMONG THE RANKS
The Feb. 9 AVCA National Collegiate Poll sees the Tritons back up to No. 10. UC San Diego will face fellow ranked opponents in 15 of their 25 matches this season. Seven of those contests will be at home, with eight coming on the road.
 

• No. 1 UCLA (L, 0-3)
• No. 2 Long Beach State
• No. 3 Hawai'i
• No. 5 UC Irvine
• No. 7 BYU (L, 0-3; L, 1-3)
• No. 8 Loyola Chicago (L, 1-3)
• No. 14 Lewis (W, 3-2)
• No. 15 UC Santa Barbara
• No. 17 CSUN 

Concordia is currently receiving votes in the coaches' poll, but remain outside the Top 20. The Tritons will also host Princeton this year, with the Tigers another unranked team that are receiving votes.
 
BIG WEST OUTLOOK
The Tritons were picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the 2026 Big West Men's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll. That mirrors UC San Diego's finish at the end of the 2025 season.
 
All six Big West teams are ranked nationally. Long Beach State has the best national ranking, checking in at No. 2.
 
Long Beach State was also picked to win The Big West after winning the national championship last season.
 
2026 WEEKLY HONORS
OH Josh Ewert, UCU Athlete of the Week (Jan. 12)
 
BIG SHOES TO FILL
In 2025, UC San Diego saw opposite hitter Anthony Cherfan, setter Bryce Dvorak and outside hitter Josh Schellinger earn both All-Big West and All-American honors in their final season with the Tritons.
 
HEAD COACH BRAD ROSTRATTER
Brad Rostratter enters his fourth season leading UC San Diego in 2026. He was named head coach of the men's volleyball program on October 7, 2022. Rostratter earned his first career win with the Tritons on Jan. 5, 2023, when the team defeated Lincoln Memorial in five sets at UC Santa Barbara's Asics Invitational. It was the team's season opener. Rostratter collected his first Big West victory on the road at CSUN when the Tritons swept the Matadors on March 16, 2023. A National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Coach of the Year and two-time Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Coach of the Year, Rostratter came to La Jolla from Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, Calif., where he served as the men's volleyball head coach since the program's inception in 2019. He led the Lions to a pair of GSAC regular season titles, a league tournament title, and two appearances at the NAIA National Tournament.
 

Overall	Wins	Losses	Pct.		Big West	Wins	Losses	Pct.
2026	3	2	.600		2026	0	0	N/A
2025	18	12	.600		2025	3	7	.300
2024	12	15	.444		2024	4	6	.400
2023	8	17	.320		2023	2	8	.200
Totals	41	46	.471		Totals	9	20	.310

 
2026 BIG WEST CHAMPIONSHIP
The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2026 Outrigger Big West Men's Volleyball Championship will be April 23-25 at the Bren Events Center on the campus of UC Irvine. All six Big West squads will participate.
 
The top two seeds after the regular season will earn a bye to the semifinal round of the single-elimination championship. All-session tickets are on sale now. Single-session tickets will go on sale on March 31.
 
UC San Diego Athletics completed a department-wide transition to NCAA Division I in 2024. All Tritons sports are eligible for conference and national postseason play.
 
At the 2025 edition, the fourth-seeded Tritons defeated five seed UC Santa Barbara in five sets in the quarterfinal round. The Tritons then faced top-seeded Long Beach State in the semifinals, falling in three sets.
 
AN EXPANDED NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2026 season will see the bracket for the NCAA Championship expand from nine teams to 12. Seven automatic qualification spots remain, including one for The Big West. Five at-large bids will now make up the rest of the field, an increase from two in previous seasons.
 
UC SAN DIEGO ON THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
Most UC San Diego home men's and women's basketball games, men's and women's soccer matches, men's and women's volleyball matches, baseball and softball games are broadcast live on ESPN+. For more information on where to watch UC San Diego volleyball, visit UCSDTritons.com/live.

WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.

TRITON VOLLEYBALL TALK
As part of UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast, Tritoncast. New episodes of Tritoncast are available on the most popular podcasting apps and on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on X @Tritoncast.

GET SOCIAL WITH UC SAN DIEGO VOLLEYBALL
Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through X and Instagram. The team's handle is @ucsdmvb.

FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!

GEAR
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories, click here.
 
UP NEXT
The Tritons will host UC Merced next Monday, Feb. 16, at 2:00 p.m. for a Presidents' Day matinee. That match will be Youth Day, with free t-shirts handed out to the first 100 kids aged 12 and under.
 
NCAA MEN'S VOLLEYBALL LANDSCAPE
The NCAA combines Division I and Division II teams into a single national championship (National Collegiate Championship), while Division III squads have a stand-alone championship (NCAA Division III National Championship).
 
There are 74 national collegiate men's volleyball programs combined, 30 Division I and 44 Division II. Nine conferences feature 65 of those institutions, with the other nine being independent. Conference affiliations are below, with an asterisk denoting the Tritons' 2026 opponents.
 
Big West (6)
Cal State Northridge (DI)*
Long Beach State (DI)*
UC Irvine (DI)*
UC San Diego (DI)
UC Santa Barbara (DI)*
University of Hawaii (DI)*
 
Conference Carolinas (8)
Barton College (DII)
Belmont Abbey College (DII)
Emmanuel (DII)
Erskine College (DII)
King University (DII)
Lees-McRae College (DII)
Mount Olive College (DII)
North Greenville (DII)
 
ECC (4)
American International College (DII)
Dominican (NY) (DII)
Roberts Wesleyan (DII)
St. Thomas Aquinas (DII)
 
EIVA (7)
George Mason (DI)
Harvard University (DI)
New Jersey Institute of Technology (DI)
Pennsylvania State University (DI)
Princeton University (DI)*
University of Charleston (DII)
Sacred Heart University (DI)
 
GLVC (7)
Jamestown (DII)
Maryville University (DII)
Missouri S&T (DII)
Rockhurst University (DII)*
Roosevelt University (DII)
Southwest Baptist University (DII)
Thomas More (DII)
 
MIVA (10)
Ball State University (DI)
Purdue University, Fort Wayne (DI)
Lewis University (DII)*
Lindenwood University (DI)
Loyola Chicago (DI)*
McKendree University (DII)
Northern Kentucky University (DI)
Ohio State University (DI)
Queens University of Charlotte (DI)
Quincy University (DII)
 
MPSF (10)
Brigham Young University (DI)*
Concordia University Irvine (DII)*
Jessup University (DII)*
Menlo College (DII)*
Pepperdine University (DI)
Stanford (DI)
UCLA (DI)*
UC Merced (DII)*
University of Southern California (DI)
Vanguard University (DII)*
 
NEC (7)
Daemen University (DII)*
D'Youville (DII)
Fairleigh Dickinson (DI)
Long Island University (DI)
Manhattan College (DI)
Saint Francis University (DI)
UMES (DI)
 
SIAC (6)
Benedict College (DII)
Central State University (DII)
Edward Waters College (DII)
Fort Valley State University (DII)
Kentucky State University (DII)
LeMoyne-Owen College (DII)
 
Independents (9)
Barry University (DII)
Catawba College (DII)
Lincoln Memorial University (DII)
Merrimack College (DI)
Newberry College (DII)
Tusculum University (DII)
University of Puerto Rico at Bayamón (DII)
University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (DII)
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras (DII)
 
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.