While the Tritons have fallen prey to better blocking teams in earlier losses, a clutch block from sophomore middle blocker Gerald Houseman in a tight game five lifted UCSD to a win over the Tigers on April 5. (Sanh Luong/Guardian File)
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL — The Tritons reached the 10-win mark for
the first time in over a decade with their victory over the University of
Pacific on April 5 after falling to No. 8 Stanford University in on April 4.
UCSD improved its overall record to 10-17, moving to 6-14 in the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation.
While not playoff bound, head coach Kevin Ring said his
Tritons still have goals they are trying to achieve.
“It is important for us to continue practicing hard because
opponents aren’t taking us lightly,” he said. “They’re battling for playoff
positioning and we see the challenge as an opportunity to go into someone
else’s gym and win.”
Besides their chance to pull off a win in the second game,
the Tritons were outplayed by the Cardinal throughout the match, falling in
straight sets, 30-20, 35-33, 30-20.
Stanford jumped out to an early lead in game one before
freshman middle blocker Calvin Ross pulled the Tritons to within three at
18-15. However, a 9-2 Cardinal run sealed the game-one win.
With game two tied at 20, Stanford went on a 5-1 run to open
up a four-point advantage. The Tritons battled back, knotting it up at 26 after
freshman outside hitter Shane Veiga’s kill and sophomore libero and serving
specialist Erik Sierks gave the Tritons a one-point cushion with an ace. After
Stanford earned a game point up 29-27, freshman middle blocker Tyler Kern
tallied a kill and block to tie the game again. Senior outside hitter Russ
Hardy gave the Tritons a game point but the Cardinal stifled any UCSD threat, staving
off two game points and closing out game two with three straight kills.
Game three was all Cardinal, as the Tritons couldn’t put
together a run and Stanford cruised to the win. Ring said Stanford had UCSD
well scouted and kept the team from finding a rhythm.
“They knew where we hit and how to block us and we just
never got anything going,” he said. “We stepped up in game two and put
ourselves in a position to win but made some poor plays that really have been
routine for us at home.”
The Tritons had more success against the Tigers as they
survived a thrilling marathon match that featured 56 ties and 21 lead changes.
The game lasted almost three hours and took all five games to be decided, with
UCSD coming from behind to win, 30-26, 28-30, 38-40, 30-26, 20-18.
Hardy, sophomore outside hitter Jason Spangler and sophomore
opposite Frank Fritsch all sent down over 20 kills while junior libero Eric
Leserman added 15 digs to bring his total on the year to 282, breaking the
all-time single-season mark he set last season.
The Tritons held a late 22-21 lead before a small Tiger run
put Pacific in the lead 25-24. Hardy tallied one of his 23 kills to tie the
match and sophomore middle blocker Gerald Houseman closed the game with an ace.
Although Pacific led most of game two, the Tritons were able
to pull close on multiple occasions. UCSD trailed 22-27 but chipped away at the
Tiger lead, closing it to a one-point deficit by way of a Fritsch kill and
Tiger error. The late push by UCSD fell short and Pacific hung on to win the
game.
The Tritons earned the first game point of game three at
29-28 before both teams traded sideouts, exponentially intensifying the game as
it wore on. UCSD finally faltered with the game still tied at 38, as a service
error and attack error ended one of the Tritons’ longest games this season and
led to a must-win game four.
The Tritons played more cohesively, earning an early
two-point advantage and never relinquishing it. Fritsch led the way , giving
the Tritons a four-point lead, 24-20, and putting down two kills to pick up the
crucial win.
Both teams had game points in the decisive fifth game, but
UCSD came away with the win. Down 8-10, Pacific went on a 4-1 run to steal the
lead 12-11. The teams were tied three more times before the Tigers got a match
point. Spangler kept the Tritons alive with a kill and the two teams tied
another three times before UCSD got its chance at a match point. The Tritons
capitalized with a Houseman block and freshman setter Phil Bannan to shut down
the Tigers for the match winner.
Ring said the turnaround point in the match was in game
three when Leserman dove over the scorer’s table and got the ball back in play.
“I think that really got our team back on track,” he said.
“It got the team to play more intensely and kept us fighting in what was the
longest match I have ever been a part of here at UCSD. The fans got their
money’s worth.”
