MEN’S VOLLEYBALL ‘mdash; Coming off a winless week, the Tritons looked to turn their momentum around against UC Irvine and UCLA on the road. Unfortunately, they failed to squeeze out a victory against either UC powerhouse.
On Jan. 23 at the Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, the team faced another daunting task, this time against the No. 8 UCLA Bruins. UCLA pulled out no stops, handing the Tritons their second sweep of the week. The sets came out 30-26, 35-33 and 30-22 in UCLA’s favor, as the Bruins cruised to victory.
Despite the loss, a few Tritons posted solid individual efforts, including junior opposite hitter Frank Fritsch, who finished with an impressive 20 kills on .552 hitting. Ehrman chipped in with 10 kills and Leserman added seven digs.
Sophomore setter Phil Bannan lent 40 assists, while sophomore middle back Calvin Ross and Fritsch contributed three blocks apiece.
UCLA was led by junior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia at 15 kills, while freshman opposite hitter Kyle Caldwell and freshman quick hitter Thomas Amberg added 10 kills each.
With the loss, the Tritons drop to 1-4 overall, and 0-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports’ Federation, while UCLA improves to 3-4, 2-2 MPSF.
On Jan. 21, the Tritons traveled to Irvine for a tough match at Crawford Court against the Anteaters. UCSD defeated the 2007 National Champion Anteaters twice in 2008, but could not seem to handle them Wednesday night: While UC Irvine hit a .517 clip, the Tritons managed a measly .218.
The opening set was the tightest of the evening for the Tritons, who pulled to within 17-15 after a kill by redshirt sophomore outside hitter Will Ehrman. A kill from sophomore outside hitter Joel Davidson pulled the Tritons to within two, but the Anteaters quickly opened up a six-point advantage and finished the set with a 30-24 win.
The second set was commanded by UC Irvine, with the Anteaters jumping out to a 22-16 lead. The Tritons were unable to come back, and Irvine cruised to a 30-22 victory. In the third set, the Tritons and Anteaters were tied at six, until UC Irvine went on a tear to score seven straight points for a 13-7 lead. UCSD never recovered and UC Irvine easily won the final set 30-19.
‘We’ve been going through a rough patch, both in terms of how we were playing as a team and the teams we were playing against,’ Ehrman said. ‘Irvine played awesome … but we just didn’t bring it. For us to beat a team like that, we have to play our best.’
Sophomore outside hitter Joel Davidson led the losing Tritons with 10 kills on .353 hitting, while sophomore middle back Calvin Ross added eight kills on .727 hitting. Senior libero Eric Leserman finished with a team-high five digs.
‘When we play league games, those teams are the best teams [in the nation],’ Davidson said of UCSD’s elite competition. ‘The thing that Coach Ring always says is that we can’t look at UC San Diego as just a Division-II school. We have to look at it like [UC Irvine] is a’ team and we’re a team and we just have to play. Once you’re on the court it’s pretty easy to do that.’
After a tough four-game road trip, the Tritons returned’ home on Jan. 28, hoping to turn their season around against Princeton University. Scores were not available at press time.
Readers can contact Cameron Tillisch at [email protected].