UCSD followed an easy exhibition win over Cal on Jan. 7 with a loss in straight sets to California Baptist on Jan. 8 at RIMAC Arena in the team’s regular season opener.
With the 3-0 loss to the Lancers, the Tritons fell to 0-1 on the season, while Cal Baptist improved to 2-0. The Tritons made every set close, with 30-23, 30-22 and 30-25 losses, but the Lancers dominated throughout. Three Cal Baptist players had double-digit kill stats, including junior Seidu Ajanako, who had 18 kills and 19 points.
Across the net, UCSD junior Luke Honnette hit .393 and led the Tritons with 13 kills and 14.5 points. As a team, however, the Tritons were outhit, .442 to .124. The abysmal percentage was a huge factor in the Tritons’ loss.
Cal Baptist — which in 2004 won its third National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics title in the program’s six year existence — outplayed the Tritons in every aspect of the game. UCSD was outblocked, 11-6, and outkilled, 56-37.
If these performances continue, the Tritons could be looking at another disappointing season. Last year, UCSD finished with an 8-21 record and was far from a postseason berth.
While the straight-set loss was not what the Tritons were looking for, several UCSD athletes played exceptional games.
In addition to Honnette’s impressive stats, junior Adam Rusch had seven kills and freshman Mike Reuter contributed five. Also, junior Nate Jones tallied 18 assists and freshman Brooks Dierdorff helped out with 17 assists. Both Jones and Dierdorff are Triton setters and shared time in the game.
The Lancers had their fair share of stars, too, as senior Shaun Dyk and sophomore Shamsu Awudu shone with 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Meanwhile, the Lancer setter, senior Trevor Johnson, upstaged the Jones-Dierdorff duo with 49 assists.
Despite the team’s disappointing performance against Cal Baptist, the game against Berkeley painted a far different picture.
The Tritons annihilated the Bears in three straight sets, 30-15, 30-24 and 30-23, providing fans with a hopeful outlook for the regular season.
The Tritons’ dominance was obvious throughout the game as they outhit their opponents, .457-.366, more than three times better than their performance against Cal Baptist.
Honnette was the star for the Tritons again with 12 kills and a .526 hitting percentage. Rusch helped out with seven kills and a superb .875 attack percentage.
Redshirt John Mark Wendler, freshman Russ Hardy and Reuter had five kills each. As a team, UCSD outblocked Berkeley, 14.5-0, with Wendler, Honnette and Reuter shutting Cal down four times each.
The Jones-Dierdorff team worked well in the match, with Jones playing games one and three and Dierdorff setting in game two. Jones had 23 assists and Dierdorff had 11 in his one game.
Cal played well during parts of the match, especially games two and three. Jeff Sause led the Bears with 11 kills while teammate Kris Kuchenbecker was close behind with 10 kills.
Although the Tritons would prefer to remember the Cal game and forget the match against the Lancers, the exhibition win means nothing, while the loss to Cal Baptist is an early blemish on their record.
The Tritons will play once again on Jan. 12 against UC Santa Barbara on the road. The game will be the first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match for the Tritons, meaning it will have major significance for the playoffs.
However, the playoffs are a long time away, and a long way away if the Tritons continue to play as they did against the Lancers.
