After winning two straight matches, the UCSD men’s volleyball team looked to accomplish something it never had before since joining the Division I ranks – win three matches in a row. Unfortunately, No. 10 Cal State Northridge and No. 4 UC Santa Barbara were the teams standing in the way of this goal. The team fought hard in each match, but lost to both division foes in three games, dropping the Tritons’ record to 2-4 overall and 1-4 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.
Sophomore middle blocker Tim Dietrich and the Tritons ended their winning streak at two, falling to Cal State Northridge and UC Santa Barbara in straight sets of 0-3 at home on the RIMAC courts on Jan. 26 and 27, dropping their record to 2-4 overall.
In the first match of the weekend, UCSD squared off against Cal State Northridge on Jan. 26 at RIMAC Arena. The Tritons started off strong in the first game, led by freshman middle blocker Frank Fritsch, who scored on a variety of kills, including a vicious swat that nearly decapitated a Matador player and whipped the crowd into a frenzy. After battling to a 12-12 tie, the Matadors took control, stretching their lead to 20-15. UCSD never got closer than four points for the rest of the game, dropping the initial stanza 25-30.
The second game was even closer, as freshman outside hitter Will Ehrman began to find his game against the athletic Matador block. Behind Ehrman’s solid play, the Tritons took the lead late in the match, 19-17. Cal State Northridge responded by going on another lengthy run to take the lead 25-20, eventually taking the game 30-26.
In the third game, the Matadors were able to assert themselves and jump out to an early 17-10 lead. The Tritons could never muster the energy to get back in the game, falling 21-30.
The pressure is on for junior middle blocker Stephen Shaw and the Triton team to avenge their two home losses with three matches this week, starting with Princeton University on Jan. 31.
The Triton attack was led by Ehrman, who finished the match with 12 kills. Fritsch played well for the entirety of the match and chipped in with nine kills of his own. Freshman middle blocker Adrian Guthals had seven blocks, and sophomore libero Eric Leserman had 12 digs to lead the defense.
Fritsch said that slow starts in all three games went a long way toward the Tritons’ defeat.
“”We started off the games wrong and struggled to find our groove,”” Fritsch said. “”But we worked hard to come back and never gave up on ourselves.””
Senior setter Brooks Dierdorff credited the Matadors with a solid offensive attack, but thought the Tritons earned some respect by playing solidly throughout the match.
“”They passed the ball really well and it made it really tough on our blockers,”” Dierdorff said. “”We may have lost, but I think that we proved that we can come out and play alongside the best teams in this league tonight.””
Head coach Kevin Ring was disappointed with the loss, but is optimistic that his team kept up with such talented teams.
“”The match was well-played by both teams and was back and forth for most of the night,”” Ring said. “”Midway through the first and second games it was even, and we seemed to tighten up a little bit out there.””
In the second match of the weekend, the Tritons came up against No. 4 UC Santa Barbara, which featured a dominant attack led by Evan Patak. Patak and the Gauchos showed why they are one of the top-ranked teams in the nation, sweeping the match in three games by scores of 30-17, 30-25 and 30-19.
In each game the Gauchos got out to sizeable leads, due to their solid serving and impressive passing. UCSD attempted to fight back, but was no match for the size and experience of the UC Santa Barbara squad, which featured a starting lineup of six upperclassmen.
Despite the seemingly lopsided loss, Ring said that the Tritons could learn from the match.
“”We can’t be discouraged by this loss because UCSB does the same thing to a lot of very tough teams,”” Ring said. “”We have to look at this match as a learning experience and continue to work hard in practice to get to the next level.””
After playing two tough teams in a row, Ring is looking forward to upcoming matches that could be favorable for his young squad.
“”We have a long stretch of matches against some teams that we can definitely beat,”” Ring said. “”We have to put this match behind us and get back to work and continue to improve if we want to get some wins in this league.””
Ring also expressed his support for the upcoming sports referendum and wanted to urge his fellow Tritons to come out and support the athletes who represent UCSD.
“”I remember when I was a freshman and the students voted to build RIMAC Arena,”” Ring said. “”I hope that the student body will come out and show their continued support for the athletic department here at UCSD.””
The Tritons will be back in action with three home games next week against Princeton University on Jan. 31, the University of the Pacific on Feb. 2 and Stanford University on Feb. 3. All matches will be played in RIMAC Arena.
