MEN’S VOLLEYBALL’mdash;The Tritons were outdueled twice last week in tough road losses at Cal Baptist University and Long Beach State. UCSD was handed its first loss on Jan. 13 at Cal Baptist in a classic back-and-forth grudge match, ultimately falling in five sets ‘mdash; 28-30, 30-27, 30-32, 30-27 and 20-22.
On Jan. 16, UCSD walked into a difficult matchup with No. 7 Long Beach State University at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach. The Tritons were unable to stay competitive in what was the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener for both squads, falling to the 49ers in three sets ‘mdash; 26-30, 26-30 and 30-32. The 49ers were tough to block from beginning to end, living up to their top-10 ranking.
The Tritons were led by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Will Ehrman, who had 18 kills on the game on .333 hitting. Junior opposite Frank Fritsch added eight kills, while sophomore middle blocker Calvin Ross and sophomore outside hitter Joel Davidson added seven kills each. Senior libero Eric Leserman also recorded eight digs for the Tritons, while redshirt sophomore Adrian Guthals managed a team-high six blocks to balance out his five kills. Bannan recorded 37 assists overall for the Tritons.
The loss drops UCSD to 1-2, 0-1 MPSF while the 49ers improve to 2-2, 1-0 MPSF.
‘I thought we competed well with Long Beach State,’ Leserman said. ‘There was nothing in particular we did wrong, one of their players just had an amazing game, and he made the difference. We have been playing well, and if we just play together, we will find success. So far, we’ve looked strong up and down. Our coach has just preached to play our game and maintain confidence throughout the season.’
After losing its first set 30-28, the men’s volleyball team bounced back against Cal Baptist. Throwing down five aces, UCSD dominated the second set 30-27. With a lead as big as 24-18 in the third set, UCSD only saw the lead close gaps as the Lancers came back to win it 32-30.
The highlight of the match for the Tritons came in the fourth set, where UCSD appeared defeated and chased a five-point deficit. Thanks to three errors by Cal Baptist and Sprangler’s three kills, the Tritons grinded to tie it up at 26, eventually rallying ahead to win the fourth set 30-27.
In the decisive fifth set, UCSD came out strong, scoring the first five points. The Tritons were led by Spangler and sophomore outside hitter Joel Davidson who recorded kills early on. In a tug-of-war set, Cal Baptist sealed up its victory and ended on top with a fifth match point.
‘We need to maintain overall consistency in order to be successful,’ Leserman’ said. ‘I thought we played well throughout the game, but a couple of mistakes cost us a win.’
Junior outside hitter Jason Spangler led the Triton attack with 21 kills on .327 hitting, while junior opposite Frank Fritsch added 15 kills. Guthals added 14 kills on .458 hitting, while sophomore setter Phil Bannan had 56 assists. Leserman also had a strong match for the Tritons, recording 11 digs.
The Tritons also faced No. 5 UC Irvine on the road on Jan. 21, but scores were not available at press time. UCSD will face another top-10 team ‘mdash; No. 8 UCLA ‘mdash; on the road on Jan. 23.
Readers can contact Cameron Tillisch at [email protected].