THE SCHEDULE
Match 18
at No. 7 USC (9-4, 8-4 MPSF)
Wednesday, March 4 • 7 p.m.
Galen Center • Los Angeles
Live Audio/Video • Live Audio • Live Stats
Match 19
vs. California Baptist (5-13, 1-12 MPSF)
Friday, March 6 • 7 p.m.
RIMAC Arena • La Jolla
Live Video • Live Stats
Match 20
vs. No. 12 Ball State (9-7, 4-3 MIVA)
Saturday, March 7 • 7 p.m.
RIMAC Arena • La Jolla
Live Video • Live Stats
The UC San Diego men's volleyball team faces its third and final three-match week of the 2015 season. The Tritons first travel to Los Angeles for a nationally-televised Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) tilt with the seventh-ranked Trojans of USC (9-4, 8-4 MPSF) on Wednesday night, March 4. First serve at the Galen Center is slated for 7 p.m., with the contest marking UCSD's debut on the Pac-12 Networks. The Tritons then return home for a weekend pair, hosting MPSF foe California Baptist (5-13, 1-12 MPSF) on Friday, March 6, and 12th-ranked non-conference opponent Ball State (9-7, 4-3 MIVA) on Saturday, March 7. Both those matches inside RIMAC Arena will begin at 7 p.m. The Tritons are 2-15 overall and 0-12 in MPSF play.
TRITONS SET FOR PAC-12 NETWORKS DEBUT
UCSD has two matches on national television during the 2015 season, both on the road. The Tritons make their debut on the Pac-12 Networks this Wednesday night, March 4, at No. 7 USC, in a contest slated for a 7 p.m. start inside the Galen Center. Kevin Barnett and Kevin Wong will call the action. Please check local listings on respective cable packages. UCSD was on BYUtv for the second year in a row for its first of back-to-back dates at BYU on Jan. 30.
TICKET INFORMATION
UCSD students are admitted free to all regular-season home volleyball matches. General admission tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for visiting students, seniors and UCSD Alumni Association members. Tickets are available at the main entrance to RIMAC Arena on the night of the match. Please note that parking permits are required on the UCSD campus on weeknights. The closest parking lot to RIMAC Arena is the adjacent Hopkins Parking Structure. Permits can be purchased there.
MATCH COVERAGE
Once again this season, all UCSD home matches inside RIMAC Arena feature a live online video stream with public-address audio. The video is free, but a registration and login are required. A majority of road matches also have video. This Wednesday night at USC, cable subscribers who get Pac-12 Networks as part of their package, can view the match online. Otherwise, a free audio broadcast is available through USC, with former Trojan Mark Beltran and Paul Duchesne on the call. All contests, home and away, have live stats. Fans can access live coverage from the UCSD Schedule/Results page, or by clicking on the links at the top. Follow @UCSDtritons for in-match Twitter updates throughout the season, and @USCmensvolley this Wednesday night.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD went 1-2 last week, all at home, sweeping a non-conference affair over Holy Names on Wednesday night, Feb. 25, before falling in straight sets over the weekend to No. 8 UC Santa Barbara and No. 9 UCLA. Set scores against HNU were 25-16, 25-13 and 25-17. Tanner Syftestad led all players with 16 kills and added team highs of six digs and four total blocks. UCSD attacked at a season-best .408 (39-8-76) clip. Syftestad also paced the Tritons in kills against both the Gauchos (7) and Bruins (11), the latter total a match high.
DOUBLE-FIGURE TRITONS
UCSD has had 14 individual performances in double-figure kills, with nine by Tanner Syftestad (12, 14, 10, 12, 13, 16, 12, 16, 11), two by Shayne Beamer (14, 10), and one each by Ian Colbert (10), Luke La Mont (12) and Kirill Rudenko (11). Rudenko has three for his career, with a high of 12 (vs. GCU in 2014). Mathew Schnitzer (13 at CBU in 2014) is the only other current Triton who has hit double digits in kills for a match in his college career. Tyler Bird has reached double figures in digs in five matches (high of 17 at GCU), Howard in two (11, 12), and Rudenko (10) and Syftestad (10) one each this season. Howard had three such efforts a year ago, with a high of 19 at home against CSUN. Syftestad is the only Triton with a double-double, that coming in the opener at Concordia (1/7).
SYFTESTAD LEADING ON OFFENSE
Tanner Syftestad has made a strong impression early in his UCSD career. The first-year Triton transferred after spending 2013-14 as a true freshman playing club volleyball at Chico State, which does not sponsor an intercollegiate men's volleyball program. The Carmichael native has started all 17 matches at opposite, and produced double-figure kill totals in nine, including each of the first two with 12 at Concordia and 14 more at Grand Canyon. Syftestad added a team- and season-high 10 digs at Concordia for his first double-double, registering eight more in Arizona. Four of his 14 kills at GCU came in the decisive fifth set, with the last two accounting for the Tritons' final two points. Syftestad thus picked up Off the Block National Freshman of the Week honorable mention on Jan. 12. He gained that distinction a second time on March 2 after achieving match highs of 16 kills in a win over Holy Names (2/25) and 11 in a loss to UCLA (2/28). Syftestad leads the Tritons at 2.93 kills per set, and has now moved up into the conference (15th) and national (46th) rankings. He is also 13th in the MPSF in points per set (3.55) and 43rd nationally.
BIRD'S EYE VIEW
Tyler Bird, a true freshman out of Redondo Beach and Redondo Union High School, is third in the MPSF and 10th nationally in digs at 2.4 per set for matches played through March 1. He has opened as the Triton libero for 13 of 17 matches, including the first seven, registering double-figure dig totals in five. Bird had a season- and match-high 17 digs in the five-set victory at Grand Canyon on Jan. 10. He collected at least seven digs in each of the first six contests, and has compiled five or more on 11 occasions.
TRITON NOTES
Tanner Syftestad has provided UCSD's team high in kills in five straight matches, and has either paced the squad or shared the lead in kills in 12 of the Tritons' 17 matches this season ... Other kill leaders have been Shayne Beamer and Luke La Mont twice each, and Kirill Rudenko and Mathew Schnitzer once ... Triton setters Milosh Stojcic (6.43) and José Carlos Martinez (6.27) are 11th and 12th, respectively, in the MPSF in assists per set ... UCSD as a team is seventh in the MPSF and 17th nationally in digs, averaging 8.89 per set ... The Tritons are 1-0 in five-set matches, 0-3 in four sets and 1-12 in three sets this season ... UCSD's 2015 schedule has 15 of 28 matches at home, including non-conference dates with Princeton and Ball State ... A program-high eight Tritons earned MPSF All-Academic distinction in 2014, including returner Mathew Schnitzer ... UCSD was picked to finish 12th in the 2015 MPSF race in the conference's preseason coaches' poll, with Pepperdine the overwhelming favorite.
GRAND CANYON SUPERLATIVES
UCSD's 3-2 win at Grand Canyon on Jan. 10 marked the first time it rallied to win from a two-set deficit since the 2013 season opener on Jan. 4, 2013, against Lewis on the first day of the UCSB Asics Invitational in Santa Barbara. The contest in Phoenix, Ariz., also was the first time that four Tritons reached double-figure kill totals, since a five-set loss in the 2013 season finale at home against Hawai'i (April 13, 2013). The result snapped a string of 15 straight losses for UCSD outside of La Jolla, the Tritons having gone a winless 0-14 on the road in 2014. They had last won a five-set decision at USC on March 16, 2013.
ROSTER BREAKDOWN
The 21-player 2015 UCSD roster includes no seniors, only three juniors, and just six returners who saw any court time in 2014. The three juniors are second-year Tritons Tanner Howard and Kirill Rudenko, and Mathew Schnitzer, who redshirted as a freshman in 2013. At 6-foot-6, Schnitzer is now a starting middle blocker who led the team in 2014 with a .312 hitting percentage (104-34-224), was second with 33 blocks, and fourth in kills. Rudenko, a native of Russia, produced 79 kills and nine aces as a part-time starter at an outside hitter spot. Howard contributed team bests of 2.05 digs per set and a .959 reception rate in just under half a season in 2014 at libero. UCSD has eight returners in all, including three redshirt freshmen, and 13 newcomers to the program. All three redshirt freshmen, and nine newcomers, have appeared in a match so far in 2015. The lone San Diego product is redshirt freshman middle Bryan Zhu, a graduate of Rancho Bernardo High School.
UCSD CAPTAINS
Team tri-captains for the 2015 season were designated as juniors Tanner Howard and Mathew Schnitzer, and redshirt freshman setter José Carlos Martinez. All three are first-time captains.
TEAM MANAGER TO TEAM CAPTAIN
Tanner Howard was the team manager as a true freshman in 2013 and for the first half of the 2014 season before injuries put him on the active roster on Feb. 27, 2014, and on the court as UCSD's primary libero a day later for a home date with non-conference foe Grand Canyon. In his very first appearance in a Triton uniform that night, he handled a match-high 16 digs over the five-set affair to help lead UCSD to its first win. The Pismo Beach native also put together a solid passing game, with zero reception errors in 27 opportunities, and added three assists. Howard contributed a team-high six digs the following night vs. UCSB, and reached double figures again with 10 in a 3-2 home win over CBU (3/13), with a season-high four assists. He then posted a season- and match-high 19 digs in a five-set home loss to CSUN (3/29), the highest single-match total for a Triton since former libero Chase Frishman also had 19 on March 30, 2012. This year, Howard opened at libero in the two matches at BYU, and the home dates with Stanford and Holy Names.
HEAD COACH KEVIN RING
Kevin Ring is in his 10th season in charge at his alma mater. The 2009 MPSF Coach of the Year, he has a 72-202 overall record at the helm. Before being elevated to the head-coaching position on June 15, 2005, Ring spent the previous nine years as an assistant for the UCSD men's squad. He got his start at UCSD as the men's volleyball team manager from 1989-91 before playing for the Tritons for three seasons. Ring was the full-time manager for the USA men's national team from 1991-93 and continued on as a technical advisor through 1996. He accompanied Team USA to the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and the 1996 Games in Atlanta. The 1992 squad left Spain with a bronze medal. To this day, Ring maintains strong ties to USA Volleyball, as he has been aiding women's national team head coach Karch Kiraly and his staff in preparing Team USA for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Most recently, that involvement included serving as an on-court assistant to Kiraly for three matches in Bangkok, Thailand, on the final stop of the FIVB World Grand Prix preliminary rounds in August of 2014.
ABOUT THE TROJANS
No. 7 USC (9-4, 8-4 MPSF) plays host to No. 3 UC Irvine on Tuesday prior to welcoming in the Tritons the following night. The Trojans' 7-0 start to 2015 was their best since going 28-0 in 1991, as they ascended to a high of No. 2 in the national poll. USC also won its first six MPSF tilts for the first time since 2011, but begins the week having dropped three in a row, including a 3-1 defeat at city rival UCLA on Feb. 22. The Trojans were picked to place third in the MPSF preseason coaches' poll, and are currently fifth. They are 5-1 at home. Senior tri-captain and U.S. national team setter Micah Christenson averages 10.52 assists per game, fourth in the MPSF and eighth in the country. The native of Honolulu, Hawaii, sat out the UCLA match with an acute sinus infection. Bill Ferguson is in his ninth year as the head coach at USC.
SERIES HISTORY
USC leads the all-time series, 41-8, including a sweep of last year's series and a third straight 3-0 decision in this season's earlier meeting in La Jolla on Jan. 22. Set scores that evening were 25-14, 25-16 and 25-19. It was UCSD that swept the season series in 2013, for the first time in program history. The Tritons produced their first-ever three-set sweep of the Trojans at RIMAC Arena in both teams' 2013 conference opener on Jan. 10. That result snapped a seven-match win streak in the series for USC. UCSD then edged the Trojans in a thriller at USC's Lyon Center, 3-2, on March 16, out-blocking the home side, 20.0-13.0. Of the Tritons' eight all-time wins over the Trojans, four each have come in La Jolla and Los Angeles.
ABOUT THE LANCERS
California Baptist (5-13, 1-12 MPSF) is coming off of back-to-back three-set home victories over non-conference opposition in Holy Names last Thursday and UC Merced on Friday. The Lancers had previously dropped nine straight, all in MPSF play, since a 3-0 win over UCSD in the teams' first meeting in Riverside on Jan. 23. CBU was picked to finish the 2015 MPSF race in 11th. The Lancers are 2-5 on the road. Wes Schneider is in his third season as the head coach at CBU, which is in its third year in the MPSF.
SERIES HISTORY
CBU leads the all-time series, 19-8, and took this year's first meeting in Riverside, 3-0, on Jan. 23. The teams have split their season series in each of the past two years since becoming MPSF rivals, with each side winning both match-ups on its home court. Last year, both tilts went to a fifth set, as well as the 2013 date in La Jolla. UCSD was swept 3-0 in Riverside on March 1, 2013.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
No. 12 Ball State (9-7, 4-3 MPSF) is located in Muncie, Ind., and is a member of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA). The Cardinals play at No. 3 UC Irvine on Friday night, prior to heading to La Jolla to complete a four-match road trip. They previously dropped a pair of 3-0 decisions at No. 4 BYU last weekend. Despite those results, junior setter Hiago Garchet, out of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, was named Tuesday as the MIVA Defensive Player of the Week. The Cardinals also moved up from No. 13 in the national poll, to a season-best 12th, following their two defeats in Utah. Joel Walton is in his 17th season in charge at his alma mater.
SERIES HISTORY
Ball State is 5-0 against UCSD all-time, with all five matches having taken place in La Jolla. The teams have not faced off in over two decades, however, since a 3-1 decision on March 9, 1994. That was a year before RIMAC Arena was even opened. Ball State also topped the Tritons on March 7, 1992 (3-0), March 5, 1991 (3-1), March 7, 1990 (3-0), and March 7, 1989 (3-1). Saturday's meeting will thus mark the fourth time that UCSD has hosted the Cardinals on March 7.
GEAR HERE
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UP NEXT
The Tritons have a single match next week, as they travel to the Bay Area to take on the Stanford Cardinal inside Maples Pavilion, site of the 2015 NCAA Championship, on Friday, March 13, at 5 p.m.
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