The UCSD men’s volleyball team looked to score one more upset victory as it played its final two matches of the season against No. 4 UCLA and No. 3 UC Irvine at RIMAC Arena on April 13 and 14. As usual, the Tritons played their hearts out for the home crowd, but they were unable to secure a victory as they lost both matches in three straight games. The match against UC Irvine was the final chapter in the careers of three impressive seniors who will be moving on after the season: setter Brooks Dierdorff and middle blockers Tim Dietrich and Stephen Shaw.
The Tritons went into their match against the No. 4 Bruins with the intention of pulling off their biggest upset of the year. They battled the Bruins for every point, but failed to take a game from the talented team out of Westwood, falling in three games 30-26, 30-24, 30-28. Freshman outside hitters Jason Spangler and Will Ehrman again led the Triton offense, scoring 16 and 11 kills, respectively.
UCSD looked strong out of the gate, racing out to a 10-8 lead in game one. UCLA then got it going and put together a nice run to take a 14-10 lead. The Tritons were able to trade points with the Bruins from that point, but could not put together a significant run and dropped the first game 26-30.
Despite the loss in game one, UCSD showed that it was not going to go quietly and again jumped out to an early lead by a score of 14-9. However, UCLA was able to fight back and tie the game up at 20-all. From that point, it was all Bruins as they closed out the game with a solid run and took a two-game lead, winning the second frame 30-24.
Game three was the closest of the night as the Tritons were able to take a lead late into the decisive stanza. After trading points for most of the match, UCSD was able to take a 27-26 lead and looked ready to close out the game. But the Bruins showed why they are one of the top-ranked teams in the nation and finished the game with a strong run to take the last game and the match 30-28.
The Tritons had to regroup quickly as they turned around to face an even tougher opponent in No. 3 UC Irvine for their final match of the year. UCSD may have been tired, but it certainly didn’t show it as the team battled one of the most talented opponents in the nation to the bitter end, losing in three games, 27-30, 25-30, 19-30. Spangler went out with a bang, leading the Tritons with 12 kills, while Ehrman added nine. Dierdorff finished his outstanding career with another strong outing, flawlessly leading the offense with 36 assists. Sophomore libero and defensive standout Eric Leserman tallied a match-high seven digs.
Game one was tight until the very end and it seemed the Tritons were ready to make a statement after a solid kill by freshman opposite Frank Fritsch tied the game at 25. The Anteaters were able to put the Tritons away in the end, however, and pulled the first game out 30-27.
Game two was more of the same as the Tritons and the Anteaters traded points for a majority of the match before it was again tied up at 25. Unfortunately, the Tritons committed several errors late in the game and handed UC Irvine a two-game lead by a score of 30-25.
UC Irvine was able to assert its dominance in game three, and showed the Tritons why it was ranked among the top five teams in the nation nearly all year. The Anteaters posted an impressive .407 hitting percentage and secured the final game and the match 30-19.
With the pair of losses, the Tritons finished the season with an overall record of 5-23 and a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record of 2-20. The Tritons finished the conference tied for last place with Stanford University and will not be a part of the eight-team conference playoffs.
Despite the below-average record, the Tritons had a lot to be proud of at the conclusion of the season. There were many bright spots, but perhaps nothing was more exciting than the play of the fantastic freshman trio of Spangler, Ehrman and Fritsch.
“”The play of our freshmen was a really pleasant surprise the entire season,”” head coach Kevin Ring said. “”When you have such a young team, you don’t want to place unrealistic expectations on yourselves, but we knew we had some potential and we showed that this season.””
“”Spangler had a really nice season and has the potential to put up big numbers for the rest of his career,”” Ring said. “”Ehrman and Fritsch both changed positions before the season and really played well.””
While the freshman performances were outstanding, several key veterans were able to topple school records as they led their young teammates. Dierdorff became UCSD’s career leader in assists when he tallied 48 helpers against Cal Baptist University on Feb. 20, and Leserman set a record for single-season digs on April 7 when he tallied his 254th of the season against Brigham Young University.
“”It feels really great to get a record like that,”” Dierdorff said. “”It makes me really proud to know that I can compare with some of the best setters this program has ever seen.””
“”Brooks has been so consistent his whole career that we kind of expected him to break the record at some point,”” Ring said. “”Leserman has the potential to break that record every year because he works so hard all the time.””
Perhaps the proudest moments of the Triton season were a Jan. 19 win against University of Southern California on the road and a Feb. 24 home win against Cal State Long Beach.
“”The victory against USC really opened our eyes and set the tone for the rest of the conference season,”” Ring said. “”The game against Long Beach was really exciting because we were able to force a decisive fifth game and then played flawlessly to win the match in front of a big home crowd.””
While the season may have been a disappointment in the eyes of a casual fan, those around the program know there is a lot to look forward to.
“”We have a solid nucleus of talented freshmen, and we have another strong recruiting class coming in for next year,”” Ring said. “”Before it is all said and done, I think it is realistic to expect these freshmen to be in the conference playoffs at some point, and there is no doubt that there will be higher expectations for years to come.””
