LA JOLLA, Calif. — No. 12 UC San Diego men's volleyball lost its second-straight match in five sets on Monday, this time falling to Princeton at LionTree Arena. The Tritons (10-7, 1-1 Big West) nearly pulled off their second reverse sweep of the season, but the visiting Tigers (4-7, 0-3 EIVA) were victorious 25-19, 26-24, 10-25, 19-25, 15-10.
 
The Tritons had a season-high 14 aces, led by five from setter John Luers. The redshirt senior also had 46 assists as the Tritons hit .280 to Princeton's .231. The hitting disparity was largely thanks to set three, where UC San Diego hit .500 while holding the Tigers to .067 in a lopsided 25-10 victory.
 
Outside hitter Sebastiano Sani had 18 kills for the Tritons, with Luke Chandler registering 12 on the right side of the court. Middle blocker Jim Garrison had eight kills on 10 swings to go along with six blocks (one solo).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Princeton opened up an early lead in set one, leading 15-10 at the media timeout. The Tritons rallied and were able to tie the set at 19, but they were unable to take the lead. The Tigers then responded with a 6-0 run to take the set 25-19.
 
A tight second set featured 10 ties and three lead changes. The Tritons led late, 22-20, after an ace from Sani before Princeton won four of the next five points to have set point up 24-23. UC San Diego survived that rally with a solo block by Garrison, but two-straight errors then sunk the Tritons and gave Princeton the set at 26-24.
 
Luers had a kill and two aces to give the Tritons an early 6-2 lead in set three that they later extended to 12-4. The rest of the set was more of the same as the hosts were one step ahead of the visitors on seemingly every rally. UC San Diego outscored Princeton 10-2 to close the set with a 25-10 win. That run included the Tritons winning the final six points, two of which were again aces from Luers.
 
The Tritons kept the pressure up in the fourth, holding the Tigers to a .074 hitting percentage. Princeton did well in the first half of the set to build a 16-14 lead, but that was undone by the Tritons getting hot again late. UC San Diego ultimately out-scored Princeton 11-3 from that point, including a 6-0 run that turned a 19-19 tie into a 25-19 set victory. Sani had two kills and a block with Garrison during that final burst, while Josh Ewert added an ace and kill.
 
The decisive fifth set looked to be going the Tritons' way early as kills by Ewert and Sani preceded another Luers ace that gave UC San Diego a 5-2 lead. Princeton recovered with three-straight points and kept that momentum going the rest of the way. The Tigers were up 10-9 and then cruised to a 15-10 victory after winning five of the next six points, four of which came from kills or an ace. The lone point allowed came on a service error.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Luers' five aces are a career high.
• The Tritons' 14 aces in one match are tied for sixth-most in the NCAA this season and are the team's most since Jan. 31, 2024.
• UC San Diego is 1-3 in five set matches this season.

QUOTABLE
"There are several areas we need to continue to work on and improve moving forward," head coach Brad Rostratter said. "We need more offensive consistency and need to find different ways to score the ball. There were some good things that happened tonight, including some guys coming off the bench and making a great impact on the match, but we don't have time to burn sets like we did tonight as we go forward into more Big West play."
 
UP NEXT
With the nonconference schedule now complete, the Tritons return exclusively to Big West play for the reminder of the regular season. They will travel to No. 17 CSUN this Friday, Mar. 13, for a match that begins at 6:00 p.m.
 
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.