LA JOLLA, Calif. — No. 13 UC San Diego men's volleyball rode a season-high 15 blocks to a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Hawai'i on Saturday night at LionTree Arena. Set scores were 25-21, 16-25, 25-20, 25-18 in favor of the Tritons.
The 15 total blocks are the second-most allowed by the Rainbow Warriors (24-4, 7-1 Big West) this season. The Tritons (12-12, 3-6 Big West) also had nine aces, the most any team has managed against Hawai'i this year.
The Tritons made two changes to their starting lineup, inserting setter
Cameron Wurl and middle blocker
Leo Wiemelt. Both players started for just the seventh time in 2026. Wurl made his first start since Jan. 30 and finished with 42 assists and a career-high six blocks. Wiemelt made his first start since Feb. 16 and finished with a career-high seven blocks.
Outside hitter
Sebastiano Sani had 18 kills while hitting .371 to go along with five blocks. Opposite
Josh Ewert added 10 kills and five aces, and middle blocker
Jim Garrison had six kills and five blocks.
UC San Diego head coach
Brad Rostratter earned his 50th victory with the Tritons on Saturday. He is the fastest coach in program history to reach 50 wins.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set one featured 13 ties and three lead changes, with Wurl spurring a late Triton run that put the hosts in front. A 19-all tie gave way to a 23-19 Triton lead after a pair of Hawai'i errors and two-straight aces from Wurl. The Rainbow Warriors used both of their timeouts to try and spot the Tritons' momentum, but the visitors were unable to erase the deficit as UC San Diego took the first 25-21.
The second set was all Hawai'i as the Rainbow Warriors hit .556 while holding the Tritons to .080. UH led 15-11 at the media timeout and was later up 18-14 before going on a 7-2 run to end the set with a 25-16 victory.
Hawai'i started strong in set three as well until a 5-0 Triton run put the hosts up 8-6. Sani had two aces during that stretch, which also included a pair of blocks from Wiemelt and
Leo Pravednikov. Ewert joined one of the blocks and also had a kill. He also finished with three aces in the set, spurring two separate 3-0 Triton spurts that eventually saw UC San Diego up 20-16. The Tritons were able to maintain that advantage the rest of the way as they took set three 25-20.
UC San Diego then ran away with set four, hitting .550 while holding Hawai'i to .120. The Tritons had five blocks in the fourth, with Wurl assisting on three and also registering a solo effort. Hawai'i never trailed in the final frame, with the Tritons leading 9-3 early on. The Rainbow Warriors never got closer than three after that point. A 5-1 run gave the Tritons their first seven-point lead at 19-12 and allowed them to cruise the rest of the way to a 25-18 set win.
TRITON TIDBITS
- Wiemelt also set a new career high in hitting percentage (.500).
- Wurl's 42 assists were just two shy of his career high. The senior set a new career high in points (7.5) and also tied his career high in kills (2) and aces (2).
- Sani tied his career high with five blocks.
- The Tritons now have six wins over top-five opponents in their six seasons since joining Division I.
QUOTABLE
"We came out tonight and put it all on the court, especially after not getting what we wanted from night one," Wurl said. "We left it all out there, and I am really proud of the result that happened. We ran a nice, simple offense. We were a lot cleaner on defense, making some really good moves as opposed to last night where we were a little bit on our heels."
UP NEXT
The Tritons have one regular season match remaining, which will be at home on April 18 against No. 8 UC Santa Barbara. That match begins at 7:00 p.m. and is also the team's Senior Night.
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.
