The UCSD men’s volleyball team endured a tough two-game series last weekend, traveling to Northridge to face No. 7 California State University Northridge Friday, then squaring off against No. 6 UC Santa Cruz Saturday.

On Friday, the Matadors needed only three sets to hand UCSD its 10th loss of the season.

The Tritons played Cal State Northridge tough in the first set. However, the Matadors’ .200 to .161 advantage in hitting percentage was enough to give them the 30-28 victory.

The next set was all Northridge: They posted 18 kills en route to hitting .607 in the game. UCSD had a match-best .296 hitting percentage in the second set, but could not contain the hot-hitting Matadors and fell 30-18.

The third set was more of the same when the Tritons hung in tough against Northridge, but couldn’t stifle its opponent and lost 30-25.

The Matadors were led by Eckhard Walter, who posted 19 kills in the game, and Stan Douglas, who came up with 10 kills in 12 attempts.

For UCSD, Jim Waller was the only player in double-figures for kills, equaling Walter’s 19 to share the game-high honors. Setter Jordan Hove finished with 39 assists, while Joe Griffin had the second most kills for the Tritons with seven.

The next day, UCSD found a tougher foe in the 9-3 Santa Cruz Gauchos and dropped the game in straight sets 30-23, 30-13 and 30-17.

The Tritons were held to a negative hitting percentage in the last two sets and ended the match with an overall percentage of .015, while UCSB finished the game with a overall .554 clip.

Waller and Adam Toren shared the team-high honors in kills, both coming up with five apiece, while the Tritons as a team only managed 22 kills to the Gauchos’ 51.

UCSD now finds itself with an 1-11 (0-10 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) record as the team prepares to take on the 10th-ranked University of Southern California Trojans Tuesday at USC.