MEN’S VOLLEYBALL ‘mdash; The Tritons put on an impressive display last week, sweeping both Princeton Universtiy and the University of the Pacific in back-to-back games, before falling to No. 6 Stanford University on Jan. 31.
Despite the eventual loss, the Tritons made history last week with their win over the University of the Pacific. This was their third consecutive win over the Tigers, making it the first time in the program’s history that the Tritons beat a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation team three times in a row.
While the Tritons went on to be defeated on the road by Stanford, UCSD did not go down without a fight. In search of three straight wins, the Tritons came up short, losing in four sets 30-25, 30-23, 28-30 and 30-28.
After losing the first two sets, the Tritons battled back with a victory in the third set. Behind 10-7, the Tritons went on an 8-2 run as redshirt sophomore middle blocker Adrian Guthals recorded two kills and a block down the stretch to put UCSD on top 15-12. Stanford tied it up late in the set and took a 28-27 lead before a kill from redshirt sophomore outside hitter Will Ehrman. After blocks from Ehrman and Guthals and a Stanford error, the Tritons recorded the final three points, forcing a fourth set.
Set four was a grid-iron match as Stanford took a 26-23 lead after a UCSD error. Down 29-25, UCSD fought back behind three Ehrman kills, pulling UCSD within a point at 29-28. However, a Triton service error ended the set as the Cardinal held on for the win.
Four different Tritons reached double digits in kills with sophomore setter Phil Bannan also recording a strong match with 59 assists and six digs. Junior outside hitter Jason Spangler came up huge with 18 kills on .467 hitting and 10 digs, while Guthals
added 16 kills on .500 hitting and four blocks. Ehrman had another great game with 14 kills and junior opposite Frank Fritsch added 12 kills.
On Jan. 30, the Tritons traveled to the A.G. Spanos Center in Stockton to face off against their MPSF opponent, Pacific. Coming off two wins against the Tigers in 2008, the Tritons carried their winning streak into the new year with a sweep and a mark in the record books. UCSD had little trouble downing Pacific, defeating the Tigers in three sets 30-25, 30-18 and 30-25.
The Tritons and Tigers were neck and neck in the first set, but UCSD never gave up the lead after an 18-18 tie. After leading 20-19, the Tritons pulled away from the Tigers with a 7-1 run on two block assists from sophomore middle blocker Calvin Ross to take a commanding 28-21 lead, allowing UCSD to cruise to victory capped by a Guthals spike.
Storming ahead in the second set, the Tritons scored four of the first five points. However, the Tigers came back strong and tied it up at 11. After leading 20-18, the Tritons never looked back, scoring the set’s final 10 points and finishing up with a 30-18 victory. Down the stretch, Ross led the Triton defense with three key blocks. Spangler served during the 10 point run, recording two aces including the last point.
The third set was a battle between the Tritons and Tigers, as the score was 18-18 at one point. After a Pacific error, Guthals and Spangler recorded consecutive kills and led 21-18. Pacific would not go down quietly, coming within 27-25 after a block. Ehrman then responded with one of his patented kills and a huge block to force a match point. Fritsch closed the door on the Tigers with a final kill, making history at the same time.
Ehrman led the way for the Tritons, with a whopping 18 kills on .438 hitting. Spangler also did his part with 11 kills and two aces. Bannan had 46 assists along with three aces while’ Guthals had eight kills on an impressive .700 percentage. Senior libero Eric Leserman had a team-high six digs.
Coming off of four straight losses in the previous two weeks, UCSD looked to turn its season around against Princeton University on Jan. 28.
Finally playing in the comfort of their own home at RIMAC Arena, the Tritons hit at an impressive .368 clip in a game where they overpowered their opponents. The display led to an easy sweep of Princeton at 30-27, 30-26 and 30-24.
‘I think tonight we definitely executed as well as we have throughout the year,’ Ehrman said after the game. ‘We need to improve our serving and passing, and we’ve really been focusing on that and were able to do it tonight, and as a result they could not run their offense as well.’
Princeton looked solid out of the gates, but UCSD stormed back from a 17-14 deficit to take the lead 21-20 on an Ehrman kill. With the Tritons up by one, Fritsch, Spangler and Ehrman notched consecutive kills to put the set in the books, 30-27.
The second set was tied at nine before the Tritons sided out and scored two extra points on Princeton red and yellow cards. Leading 12-9, UCSD ran up the scoreboard 25-18. Princeton would not go down quietly, pulling within 27-24, but Ehrman recorded two more kills. A Princeton error sealed the deal at 30-26.
UCSD dominated the third set which was anchored by an 8-1 Ehrman-led run. UCSD was ahead by as many eight points in the set and Ehrman ended the game right, sending down a kill for the 30-24 win.
Ehrman looked superb all game, dominating the court kill after kill, finishing with 16 on a blistering .522 hitting. Bannan was the Tritons’ backbone, adding 39 assists to go along with six digs. Although UCSD lost to Stanford University, the previously unranked Tritons are now ranked 15th. Still, Ehrman sees room for improvement.
‘We’re definitely going to have to bring it to another level if we’re expected to beat the Pepperdines and the Irvines and the top teams in the country,’ Ehrman said regarding the MPSF competition.
After the week, UCSD is now 3-5 overall, and 1-4 in MPSF. The No. 15 Tritons are back in action tomorrow against No. 10 UC Santa Barbara and will then travel to face No. 4 Cal State Northridge on Feb. 7.
Readers can contact Cameron Tillisch at [email protected].