VOLLEYBALL — After playing most of February on the road, the
Tritons were glad to return home. UCSD didn’t fare well on the long road trip,
dropping all five of its matches — however, nothing says welcome home better
than a three-game sweep of No. 12 UC Santa Barbara.
That’s what happened Feb. 29, when UCSD began its nine-game
home stand with a decisive 30-27, 30-22, 30-24 victory over the Gauchos. The
sweep was the program’s first against a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
opponent, and only the second time UCSD has beaten UCSB in 34 contests. After a
close first game, the Tritons dominated, as two players tallied double-digit
kills and the team hit .420 for the contest.
Head coach Kevin Ring has said all season that the team
struggles to put points on the board with its serve, but it wasn’t a problem
against the Gauchos as UCSD used late runs in all three games en route to the
upset.
“Really we’re just playing better volleyball,” Ring said.
“They would go on little runs but within one or two servers we’d come back and
keep that three or four point cushion. Our kill percentage improved and our
offense is making less mistakes. Being able to play a team like UC Santa
Barbara and close them out is a huge confidence boost.”
Game one saw six ties before UCSD took a 20-18 lead. The
lead slimmed to one before UCSD strung together four points to take a
commanding 25-20 lead. Sophomore opposite Frank Fritsch finished the game with
one of his game-high 17 kills.
Clinging to a 23-22 advantage in game two, the Tritons
scored the final seven points behind the serving arm of freshman setter Phil
Bannan, who finished the game with an ace.
UCSD came out firing in game three and built an early 7-3
lead. After the Gauchos tied the game at 9-9, the Tritons ran off four straight
points to regain the lead for good. Fritsch again thwarted any chance of a
comeback with four kills at the end of the game.
The win was the Tritons’ fifth, which matches last year’s
total with 11 games left. Ring has been working all season to find the right
lineup and the one they used seemed to work well.
“The guys that played last weekend did a real nice job but
we don’t have a definite first string,” he said. “We have many guys in the gym
that can take over and it creates a lot of competition amongst players forcing
them to keep working hard.”
The victory was short lived, as No. 4 Cal State Northridge
crushed any thoughts of back-to-back wins with its 30-24, 30-22, 20-30, 30-25
triumph over the Tritons. The Matadors controlled games one and two, getting
early leads and holding onto them.
UCSD stopped the bleeding in game three with solid serving
that began long runs. Behind sophomore outside hitter Jason Spangler’s serving,
the Tritons scored the first seven points of the game. CSU Northridge got no
closer than six points the rest of the way as UCSD cruised to the win.
Hoping to build on its momentum from game three, the Tritons
scored three of the first four before the Matadors took control. UCSD couldn’t
cut into its five-point deficit as CSU Northridge closed out the match.
Despite the loss, the team was still pleased with its
performance and is focusing on the victory over UCSB.
“If you are playing better volleyball, then you should win,”
Ring said. “We were able to close out and win against
Barbara
weekend.”
Ring refers to Pacific and No. 7 Stanford University, who
will visit RIMAC Arena on March 7 and 8, respectively. UCSD has never beaten
the Tigers and is looking for just their third victory over the Cardinal. But
after upsetting the Gauchos, the Tritons seem capable of shocking another
favored team.
