Still looking for that elusive first win, the UCSD men’s volleyball team must travel to Los Angeles on Jan. 26 to face University of Southern California after dropping three games in one week, all to ranked teams. The Tritons lost a nail-biter, 3-2, to No. 13 UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 17, fell to No. 8 Stanford in straight sets on Jan. 21 and succumbed to University of Pacific in four games for their fifth loss of the season on Jan. 22.
Though the matches were against tough competitors, head coach Ron Larsen was not expecting three losses.
The losses dropped the Tritons’ record to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. In the match against Pacific, the Tritons got off to a promising start, winning the first game, 30-28. However, the Tigers were unfazed and came back with a vengeance, taking the next three games and the match, 30-24, 30-22, 30-26. Senior outside hitter Luke Honnette shone in the loss, racking up 27 kills with 28.5 points.
The game against Stanford was one of the marquee matchups of the year, with the Cardinal holding a top-10 national ranking. The Tritons upset the Cardinal last year, paving the way for high expectations this year, but UCSD could not pull off a miraculous upset this time, losing three games to none, in front of a crowd of more than 550.
The Tritons jumped out to an early lead in the first game but couldn’t hold on and lost 30-26. In the second game, excellent blocking on the other side of the net smothered the UCSD offensive attack. Stanford had 10 blocks in the game, twice that of UCSD, and they all seemed to be momentum-stopping, keeping the Tritons out of reach and out of contention. At one point, UCSD kept setting up beautiful kill shots only to get them blocked. The Tritons tried three kills in a row until finally one went untouched and hit the Cardinal side of the floor. Despite their victory in that point, the Tritons went on to lose the second game 30-21, due to a huge Cardinal advantage in team attack percentage, .483 to UCSD’s .077.
The third and final game was neck-and-neck until the end. UCSD kept taking one-point leads only to watch the Cardinal tie it up on the next rally. They were up, 15-14, at one point, and then watched Stanford start to pull away. Stanford tied it up, then took the lead, 17-15, only to have the Tritons tie it back up at 17 apiece. It remained tied at 19 points each; however, the Cardinals hit the home stretch hard and won 30-24.
Honnette, with 18 kills and a .464 hitting percentage, led the Tritons as he has in all but one game this year, while five players with double-figure point tallies boosted Stanford. The return of senior outside hitter Adam Toren, who has not played this season because of injuries, was another highlight of the night. However, Toren managed only a .375 attack percentage in his return.
In their closest game of the year against the No. 13 Gauchos, the Tritons played very well but fell in the end. They lost, 30-24, 32-30, 25-30, 24-30, 12-15. UCSD won the first two games, with a .444 and a .200 attack percentage, respectively. The Tritons also had nine blocks and 21 digs in the first two games alone. With a two-game lead and momentum on their side, the Tritons were poised for their first victory of the year, but the Gauchos played spoilers and took the match.
In game three, down 16-20, UC Santa Barbara went on a 9-2 run, giving them a 22-25 lead. Soon thereafter, it was 25-30 and the Gauchos had started their comeback. The fourth game stayed close, with the Tritons up 14-13 at one point. The Gauchos went on a 9-3 run, taking a 16-23 lead. They never looked back and cruised to a 24-30 victory.
The victory depended on game five and the Tritons couldn’t keep up with UC Santa Barbara. After an early 5-4 lead, UCSD went into a tie with the Gauchos at nine apiece before they went on a 3-6 run to end the game and the match, 12-15.
The Tritons’ next home match is Feb. 18 at RIMAC Arena against Cal State Northridge. First serve is at 7 p.m.
