After a tough home loss to nonconference opponent Lewis University on March 7, the UCSD men’s volleyball team traveled to northern California to take on two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rivals: No. 8 University of the Pacific and Stanford University. Both matches were hotly contested, but the Tritons were unable to secure what would have been their sixth victory this season, losing both matches in three games.
Freshman outside hitter Will Ehrman tallied 16 kills but added 14 errors in UCSD’s two road losses to No. 8 University of the Pacific on Mach. 9 and Stanford Univeristy on March 10.
When the Tritons traveled to Stockton, Calif., on March 8 to take on No. 8 University of the Pacific, they must have been thinking upset on the road. Unfortunately, the Tigers were able to hold off the Triton attack, taking the second contest of the year from the UCSD team in three games, 33-31, 30-27, 30-27.
The Tritons proved they were ready to play from the start and nearly won the all-important first game of the match. The action was back and forth throughout, and the game was tied 31-31. The Tritons had their chances to attack, but it was the Tigers who were able to take advantage of UCSD errors and pull out of the game 33-31.
Despite the tough loss in game one, the Tritons proved that they were resilient in game two as they jumped out to an early 11-4 lead. However, the Tigers showed that they had some staying power of their own as they responded with a 12-4 run that gave them a 16-15 lead. University of the Pacific was able to keep the momentum throughout the rest of the game as it built a 27-23 lead and eventually took the game, 30-27.
Game three was more of the same as neither team was able to take an early significant lead. With the score tied 18-18, the Tigers went on a three-point run with a pair of blocks and a service ace, snatching the momentum away from the Tritons. UCSD was never able to recover and the Tigers secured the final game and the match, 30-27.
Freshman outside hitters Jason Spangler and Will Ehrman led the Triton attack, with Spangler punching 13 kills and Ehrman adding 11. Senior setter Brooks Dierdorff continued to add assists to the record books as he handed out 39 helpers. Sophomore libero Eric Leserman continued to pace the Triton defense and finished with eight digs.
Head coach Kevin Ring believes that his team must improve its passing if it wants to close games out.
“”Our passing hurt us in the match but it was not the only thing,”” Ring said. “”We have to stay aggressive and not make errors when we have a lead late in games.””
The Tritons had little time to think about the tough loss as they were forced to pack their bags and head to Stanford University to face the Cardinal on March 9. However, the second match of the road trip proved to be just as challenging, as the Tritons were again defeated in three games 28-30, 25-30, 25-30.
The Cardinal were able to assert themselves early in the first frame of the match and jumped out to an early 13-10 lead. But the Tritons responded with some solid play to pull ahead 21-19. UCSD was able to extend its lead to 24-20 on a strong kill by senior opposite Andy Northness. Stanford then mounted a comeback of its own and tied the match up in the waning moments at 28-all. Stanford finished the game up with back-to-back kills, taking the initial stanza 30-28.
The Tritons were unable to respond in game two and fell behind early, 14-9. Stanford controlled the game for its entirety and was able to capture the second frame of the match, 30-25.
UCSD took a 19-15 lead in game three, but Stanford went on a four-point run to kill UCSD’s momentum and tie the game at 19. The Cardinal finished the match with an 11-6 run and took the final game 30-25.
Spangler again led the Triton offensive attack and finished with 20 kills and a .382 hitting percentage. Northness had another strong outing and finished with nine kills.
Ring attributed the loss to the team’s inability to control the service game down the stretch.
“”We missed eight serves in the first game alone, including five of our last nine,”” Ring said. “”If you do that, you have to side out virtually every time and we were unable to do that.””
Despite the losses, Ring saw positive developments in his team and believes it are on its way to success.
“”We are doing a lot of things well and we know we are capable of playing with anybody,”” Ring said. “”We have to have the right mentality after 20 and figure out how to close out these matches.””
With the pair of road losses, the Tritons dropped their record to 2-12 in MPSF play and 5-15 overall. The team has now lost five straight games, but has a chance to stop the bleeding at home with four straight home matches beginning next week. The home stand will begin when the Tritons take on No. 13 University of Southern California on March 16.
