MEN’S VOLLEYBALL ‘mdash; The UCSD men’s volleyball team began its season on Jan. 9 with a victorious showing against Hope International University, a 30-17, 30-28, 30-24 sweep for the Tritons. The Tritons’ athleticism, speed and power proved to be too much for the Royals to handle as the Tritons breezed through their first match of the season. It has been almost a year since the men’s volleyball team played a competitive game on the court, but the Tritons did not let that fact stop them from winning in front of their home crowd. ‘It feels really good to get our first win,’ redshirt sophomore and captain Will Ehrman said. ‘We hadn’t played in about a month so it was good to get back out on the court.’
The Tritons were led by Ehrman, who recorded a team-high 13 kills in the match. The outside hitter took advantage of the smaller blockers from Hope International, putting down hit after hit. Sophomore setter Phil Bannan led the team in assists with 44, while redshirt sophomore middle blocker Adrian Guthals put up 12 kills and devastated the Royals’ hitting game with his blocks. Junior opposite Frank Fritsch registered 10 kills.
‘When you get good passing, your offense just runs better,’ Ehrman said. ‘All our hitters had really good games.’
After the first game, which the Tritons led 20-5 at one point, the Tritons seemed to slow down and allow Hope International to get back into the game. ‘We let up in the second and third games,’ head coach Kevin Ring said. ‘But after you beat a team like that in the first game, you kind of let up like that.’
It could have been a disastrous affair for the Tritons, but Ring said that Ehrman rallied the team to put away Hope International in the second and third sets.
The Tritons begin division play in a few weeks, and as usual, will be playing high-caliber teams such as UC Irvine, UCLA and national runner-up from last year, Pepperdine. But the size and strength of the Tritons’ opponents don’t scare them.
‘It’s not about money on the court,’ Ring said. ‘It’s about Team A vs. Team B, and whichever team plays better wins.’
The Tritons hope to build on last year’s success, which included beating UCLA, University of Pacific and defending national champions UC Irvine. The Tritons’ next match against Cal Baptist University will be the team’s last contest before its conference schedule begins. UCSD will travel to play Cal Baptist on Jan. 13 in Riverside. UCSD will then open conference play on the road against Long Beach State University on Jan. 17. Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
Readers can contact Tyler Nelson at’ [email protected].