Men’s volleyball traveled upstate over spring break, and despite some strong efforts against Pepperdine University, Stanford University and University of the Pacific, UCSD came away with three losses.
After an eight-game homestand in which it went 4-4, UCSD left the comfortable confines of RIMAC Arena to meet Pepperdine in Malibu on March 16.
The Waves are the No. 2-ranked team in the country, and the Tritons had their work cut out for them. Pepperdine was riding a five-match winning streak entering the match and had handily defeated UCSD earlier in the season.
Playing in the always hostile environment of the Firestone Fieldhouse, the Tritons had trouble in the first game and the team’s slow start allowed Pepperdine to cruise to a 30-21 victory.
The second game brought more of the same, and UCSD again had trouble getting on track, falling 30-20. While the third game proved more entertaining for UCSD — the team put up quite a fight — the result was the same: a loss, 30-28, allowing the Waves to sweep the match 3-0.
Jim Waller had 15 kills to lead UCSD for the match. As a team, the Tritons hit just .185, and on the defensive side they weren’t able to get anything going, recording zero blocks for the game.
Pepperdine was paced by Sean Rooney, who hit .700 and had 15 kills. The Waves hit .526 as a team and had seven service aces on the evening.
After a break for finals, UCSD resumed its road trip, traveling to Stockton for a rematch with UOP. The Tritons had played Pacific on March 2 and were hoping to come up on the winning side this time.
Despite the precedent for a close match, this match was anything but, and UCSD lost the first two games 30-19 and 30-22. The Tritons again failed to get anything going early in the match.
The two-game deficit ignited a little spark within the Tritons and they were able to make the third game a seesaw battle before losing 30-28.
The Tritons again had trouble getting good looks at the ball and hit .134. However, Waller had 21 kills and two aces for the match. Three UCSD players had negative hitting percentages and no one besides Waller had more than four kills.
Aaron Watchfogel, with 12 kills, led a Tigers attack that saw three players get to double digits in kills. The team hit .400 for the night and smothered the Triton attack with 13.5 blocks.
UCSD then traveled to Palo Alto, Calif. for a match with Stanford. Two weeks ago, UCSD took the Cardinal to five games in an incredible match at RIMAC Arena. The Tritons eventually lost the match, but heading up to Stanford they had every reason to expect another close confrontation.
The Cardinal came out leaping to the rafters, perhaps trying to make up for Casey Jacobsen and the men’s basketball team’s poor postseason showing.
UCSD fought hard, and despite intense pressure from a Stanford attack led by Kurt Toppel and his 15 kills, the Tritons managed to make the first two games relatively close, losing 30-24 in the first and 30-23 in the second.
The Tritons tired in the third game and were unable to keep up with the Cardinal offense that went .464 for the match. UCSD lost, 30-20, and the Cardinal swept the match 3-0.
Kevin Keyser had seven kills for the Tritons and hit the ball well, marking a .636 hitting percentage. Stanford was able to stymie much of the UCSD attack, however, and not one Triton broke 10 kills for the evening.
The three losses drop UCSD to 5-19 overall and 1-18 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
The Tritons will meet University of La Verne on April 6 at RIMAC Arena. This is the beginning of a four-game homestand that will culminate in the last home game of the year against California Baptist University on April 13.
Then the Tritons will go to the MPSF championships, where the toughest teams in the nation will battle it out for the right to go to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and compete for a national championship.