There is quite a difference between the No. 3 team in Division III and the No. 3 team in the Division I/II poll, as the Triton men’s volleyball team found out last weekend as UCSD swept Division III No. 3 La Verne (30-24, 30-26 and 30-22) on Feb. 20 before falling to No. 3 Long Beach State (30-16, 30-26 and 30-25) on Feb. 21.
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The split moves the Tritons’ record to 6-9 overall and 2-7 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The American Volleyball Coaches Association currently ranks UCSD No. 13, which is the highest the Tritons have ever been ranked in the Division I/II poll.
After a travel-intensive 1-6 road trip, UCSD returned home for its first match inside RIMAC Arena in 25 days and enjoyed a nonconference win. The La Verne Leopards were not prepared to roll over and play patsy, however, as game one stayed tight in the early going. The visitors even grabbed the lead at 16-15, but the Tritons took consecutive points on Leopard hitting errors, giving them a lead they would not relinquish on their way to a 30-24 win.
Game two featured more of the same, with La Verne holding its lead up until 22-23 when the Tritons once again bore down to make an 8-3 run and took the game 30-26.
In the third game, UCSD took the first four points and never looked back on the way to a 30-22 victory.
Senior opposite Jim Waller led the way with 17 kills followed by junior outside hitter Jeff Urton who added 15. Urton also led the team with seven digs and freshman setter Brooks Dierdorff had 39 assists.
Given the emphasis put on this match, Triton head coach Ron Larsen appeared not to be concerned about losing to La Verne.
“We wanted to put our Long Beach game plan into effect against La Verne so we could have a practice game,” he said.
The following evening, Larsen’s squad got a chance to see just how much that practice would help against the highly touted Long Beach State 49ers. Unfortunately for UCSD, the previous night’s dry run had not included anything close to the dominance that the 49ers displayed in game one.
Long Beach State had a staggering 8.5 total blocks in the first frame — on its way to 15.5 for the night — as the 49ers outhit the Tritons .526 to -.029 to easily grab game one, 30-16.
UCSD righted the ship enough to stay close to the 49ers in game two, but the Tritons were unable to mount a significant rally as Long Beach took the second frame, 30-26.
Stealing games from the high-powered 49ers would be a tough task for a Triton squad that may not be consistent enough to compete at Long Beach’s level yet.
“I think [Long Beach] is better than we are right now,” Larsen said. “I think we’d have to play at a real high level for longer than we’re capable of to get to that team.”
In game three, UCSD had a lead as late as 22-21, but at 23-23 the 49ers went on a four-point run that sealed the match and finished the sweep, 30-25.
UCSD junior setter Nate Jones had 11 assists in the third game after Dierdorff played games one and two with 28 assists. The competition for playing time at the setter position has become hotly contested lately as Larsen looks for something that will work.
“I think it’s a battle,” he said. “They each have qualities that are great, but it’d be great if I could combine all of their qualities into one setter.”
Waller had his second consecutive 17-kill night for the Tritons to lead all players, but said he wouldn’t mind reduced numbers if it translated into wins.
“In the past two years, I’ve been right up there in kills per game, in the top five or the top three in the nation and it hasn’t been getting us wins, so we kind of talked about it and tried to spread it out to see if that would help,” Waller said. “[Lately] I’ve been picking it up offensively, but I still think we’re stronger when we’re balanced. I think that’s when we’re most effective, so I hope we get back to that.”
After a tough road trip, UCSD will look to feed off the energy of being back in Southern California and regain some of its strength.
“That trip basically wore us down. Everybody lost a lot of weight being on the road all the time and your body gets beat up,” Waller said. “A lot of the teams we played on the road we know we can beat. Being at home always helps us out. We have great support every night. It’s nice to see the fans.”
The Tritons will get to see the home fans again March 4 against the University of Southern California, but not before UCSD heads north to face No. 7 UC Santa Barbara and No. 6 Cal State Northridge in a pair of key MPSF matches.
