The UCSD men’s volleyball team has plenty to prove after
last year’s 5-23 showing, but there is promise for the Tritons as they return
five starters to a potentially explosive squad that last year toppled
Division-I opponents University of Southern California, Princeton and Long
Beach State University.
Last year’s youth is now one year older, one year wiser and
has one more year of experience; head coach Kevin Ring, now in his third year
at UCSD, expects experience to play a large role in the team’s improvement.
“We have four freshman starters returning with experience in
competitive matches,” he said. “The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation is an
extremely competitive conference. I’m not making predictions about ‘x’ number
of wins. We’re just trying to put a competitive team on the court and we can do
that.”
UCSD is led by lone captain junior libero Eric Leserman and
a supporting cast of sophomores: outside hitter Will Ehrman, opposite Frank
Fritsch and outside hitter Jason Spangler return for their second season in a
Triton uniform. The trio power the Triton offense, but will be without Ehrman’s
service for the first half of the season due to shoulder surgery.
Spangler admitted that Ehrman’s absence is a big loss, but
there is a new crop of players waiting to fill his spot.
“Losing Will is a big hit because he’s one of out best
defenders,” Spangler said. “It would be nice to have a guy with a year of
experience but we’ll see how things go. We’ve got four or five guys fighting
for his position and the competition in practice is only making us better.”
Ring must also find a replacement for the departed setter
Brooks Dierdorff, who was the only senior to graduate last season.
“[Dierdorff] was a steady three-year starter and is not an
easy replacement,” Ring said. “We are mixing things up every day at practice
and keeping a lot of stats. [Freshman] Phil Bannan and our backup from last
year [sophomore] Billy Arnold are working extremely hard, and its still wide
open.”
Once the setter position is cemented, UCSD will field one of
its youngest lineups in recent memory. With no seniors on the roster, the
Tritons are one of MPSF’s up-and-coming teams. UCSD is the lone Division-II
team in a conference of Division-I opponents, which includes the past three
national champions.
Ehrman said the bigger schools don’t pay much credence to
the team’s new talent, which only makes each win that much sweeter.
“We don’t have any nationally acclaimed recruits coming in
so no one knows anything about us,” he said. “We don’t get respect in the
league but we know we can play, and our team isn’t shy to share that.”
The Tritons got a taste of competitive conference play a few
weeks ago at a preseason tournament held in Long Beach. According to Spangler,
the tournament was an opportunity for teams to mix and match players and find
chemistry with different formulas. Matches lasted an hour and a half and teams
were encouraged to fit in as much volleyball as they could during the allotted
time. Long Beach State, Cal Baptist and Hope International all gave the
freshmen a feel for the speed of collegiate volleyball.
After the tournament, Leserman was pleased with the talent
of the new players but is encouraging everyone to raise it to the next level.
“Right now our biggest weakness is our youth and inexperience,”
he said. “The college game is a lot faster than high school and I’m trying to
teach [the new players] that.”
Ring echoed Leserman’s sentiment, saying that the new
recruiting class will bring height to the Tritons’ front line, allowing UCSD to
match up better size-wise with other conference teams.
The team is focusing on improving its passing and serving.
Ring wants his players to be more aggressive but still play smart. Because UCSD
doesn’t pay money for top recruits like its competitors, the Tritons feel that
improvement in these areas can lead to a vast development on last season and
give them a better chance at running their offense.
All the preseason’s hard work will be showcased when the
regular season begins Jan. 4 against UC Santa Cruz, which the Tritons have not
faced since 2002.
