The UCSD men’s volleyball team will graduate four multi-year players this year who have made significant impacts on the future of the program.
Four-year players Eric Perrine and Chris Mortimer, along with three-year player Brian Foott and two-year player James Kimball have seen the transformation of UCSD from a team that was competitive only with much smaller schools, to the current squad, which competes each night with the top Division I teams in the nation.
Perrine, a management science major at Revelle College, will graduate this spring. He spent his senior season at UCSD primarily at setter, but during the course of his time here, he has played significant amounts of time as outside hitter and middle blocker as well. Triton head coach Ron Larsen commented on how this helped two-time captain Perrine to be a leader.
“”Eric was the role model type of a captain,”” Larsen said. “”Guys looked up to him because he could do everything on the court.””
Perrine’s career totals expand on that point. He leaves UCSD with 1,322 assists, 516 kills, 386 digs, 277 blocks and 65 service aces. His plans for next year are not set yet, but he may be either finding a job or looking to play volleyball professionally in Europe.
Perrine’s co-captain this past season was Mortimer, who plays the libero position and graduated last quarter from John Muir College with a communication degree. From the 2000 season, in which the Tritons won a Division III national championship, until now, Mortimer has been a defensive stronghold who helped his team most with his knowledge of the game.
“”Chris was a quiet leader who really understood what it took to win and be competitive and probably had the best volleyball IQ of anybody on the team,”” Larsen said.
Mortimer amassed 607 digs in his four years at UCSD, leading the team in both his junior and senior seasons. He will leave in early August to play professionally in Europe.
Foott, a middle blocker from Eleanor Roosevelt College, will graduate in the spring with a degree in management science. He has been among the team leaders in blocks in each of his three seasons at UCSD, and has contributed to a program in which he sees a lot of growth from his sophomore year until now.
“”[Before], we very rarely competed with the top teams. Now we’re able to compete with almost every team,”” Foott said.
Like Perrine and Mortimer, Larsen noted that Foott showed the co-operative attributes that are essential to being part of a successful team.
“”Brian is of the same mold,”” Larsen said. “”He knows what it takes to be a team guy.””
Foott is still unsure as to his post-graduation plans.
The fourth Triton senior is Kimball, an economics major at Thurgood Marshall College who played two years with the Tritons after transferring from BYU. Larsen noted that although his playing time was limited, Kimball’s contributions in practice were a great help to the team.
“”James was good in practice and helped out a lot,”” Larsen said. “”He made the people around him better because they were fighting for their starting spots.””
Kimball plans to attend law school after graduation.
As individuals and as players, Perrine, Mortimer, Foott and Kimball have made a contribution to this campus, and to the future of UCSD volleyball. Their efforts will certainly be remembered.
“”I’m going to miss my seniors,”” Larsen said. “”It was great getting to know them. They clearly have helped set a standard for where this program is going.””
