The UCSD men’s volleyball team has won a game. With a win more spectacular than the Red Sox’s victory in Game 7, the Tritons ended a 19-game skid dating back to last April and improved upon a season that was heading nowhere.
Close call:
A playoff berth impossible, the only thing on the line when the Tritons arrived in Riverside on March 9 to play Cal Baptist was pride. Facing an 0-16 record in the 2005 season, the Tritons were overdue for a win. The Lancers are a quality team with a winning record, and the Tritons had yet to prove themselves, so a win was far from expected. However, UCSD pulled away with the upset in a 3-2 victory (30-26, 27-30, 32-30, 25-30, 17-15).
The Lancers dominated the Tritons in their first match of the season, beating them in straight sets back on Jan. 8. At that point the losing streak was only at four games, but two months later it appeared that it could last forever. However, the rematch between the Lancers and the Tritons proved to be much more exciting than the first meeting, as the squads exchanged points for five games until the Tritons finally cemented their victory.
The first game started with a 3-2 Lancer lead before the Tritons took advantage of numerous Cal Baptist errors to go on a 10-1 run. The Tritons managed to keep the Lancers at bay and maintained their lead to win the first game, 30-26.
The Tritons led 1-0 twice earlier in the season against UC Santa Barbara and Penn State; however, those leads did not last and the games ended in heartbreak. Heading into game two, the Tritons were looking to repeat their success from game one and put the Lancers on the brink of defeat. Unfortunately, Cal Baptist put in most of its starters for the second game, which it did not do in game one, and that made the difference as the Lancers jumped out to a 13-7 lead and then a 17-11 advantage. The Tritons showed that they could hang with the big boys when they charged back to come within one point of their opponents, 21-20. However, the Tritons failed in their attempt and the Lancers came away with a 30-27 win to tie the match at one game apiece.
In a decisive third game, the Tritons fell behind once again, at 21-15. The Lancers could not hold off a surging Triton team, which tied the score at 28-28. The squads exchanged points until UCSD managed to put back-to-back points together to win game three, 32-30.
The Tritons were now in an unusual situation: They had an opportunity to win the match and the momentum was in their favor. However, the team couldn’t capitalize on its opportunity and allowed Cal Baptist to tie the match. The score was tied nine times in the game until the Lancers took the first sizable lead, 22-19. They extended the lead to five with a 6-4 run and then pulled away to win the game, 30-25, to force a fifth game.
The Tritons had faced this scene twice before in the year, against UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine; in those matches the Tritons failed to deliver victories. This time was different, however, as the Tritons rose to the occasion and managed to come back to win the game and the match. Down 8-5 and with the spirit of a team with nothing to lose, the Tritons rattled off three straight points to tie it up. The score would be even four more times before a Triton kill and a Lancer error led to a 17-15 win in game five and a 3-2 victory in the match.
Senior outside hitter Luke Honnette led the victorious Tritons with 21 kills, and UCSD outhit the Lancers, .309-.289. However, the kill stats do not mean as much as the stat of one in the win column. The Tritons ended the losing streak and were on their way to starting a new one — a winning streak.
Unfortunately, the streak was short-lived, as the Tritons have gone 0-3 since the win with a loss to Long Beach State and two to Hawaii. Despite their .050 winning percentage so far, the Tritons have that one win, and even if it is their last, it will be the one that counts.
The Tritons will have a chance to double their win count March 30 against USC and possibly even triple it with a win over Pepperdine on April 2. Both games will be at RIMAC Arena.
