VOLLEYBALL ‘mdash; The Tritons traveled to Springfield, Mass., last week to compete in the Hall of Fame Morgan Classic with Saint Francis University, George Mason University and Springfield College. UCSD’ (6-6, 2-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) advanced to the semifinals at Blake Arena and trumped Saint Francis University of Pennsylvania with scores of 30-20, 33-25, 30-27 and 30-18 on Feb. 13. The Tritons then faced down George Mason University in the championship game on Feb. 14, coming out victorious and taking the crown with a 30-18, 30-21, 30-15 sweep.
MSPF’s Most Valuable Player and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Will Ehrman led the Tritons in the championship match, notching 14 kills and 13 digs. UCSD struck gold in the championship match, hitting .469 as a team and paced by Ehrman’s outstanding individual performance. The MVP’s 14 kills came at a .481 hitting clip, tacking on two aces in the win.
‘This weekend was the best team volleyball we have played this year,’ Ehrman said. ‘We were solid in all areas of the game, and it definitely showed.’
Starting the season unranked with a 1-4 record, UCSD has climbed steadily back up to .500 and gained the No. 10 ranking.
‘After this weekend’s wins, we have a boost of confidence going into the rest of our league matches,’ sophomore setter Phil Bannan said. ‘If we can take care of BYU this upcoming weekend and take a few matches from other teams in the conference, we have a good shot at making the playoffs, which is one of our main goals.’
In the Tritons’ semifinal match against Saint Francis University, UCSD again controlled the majority of the game in a dominating victory. Ehrman led the strike, exploding with 18 kills to complement .571 hitting. As a team, UCSD hit at a blistering .463 clip. Junior opposite Frank Fritsch took a whopping 17 kills, while Bannan carried the offense with 62 assists and seven digs.
The first set was neck and neck before a Fritsch kill put the Tritons ahead, leading to a run that got UCSD to 22-15. But the Saint Francis University Red Flash would not go down without a battle, cutting the lead down to five points. The Tritons, however, ended the set strong behind an ace and kill from Spangler and Bannan respectively and block assists from Ehrman, Fritsch and Guthals to take the set 30-20.
The second set was a back-and-forth grudge match ‘mdash; a classic nail-biter. UCSD trailed by three points before tying it up several times throughout the match. With UCSD trailing 16-14, the set was tied at points 17 through 25 before Guthals came through with a kill, followed by a solo block to give the Tritons a 27-25 lead. Saint Francis University would score two straight to tie the set at 29 before Fritsch ended the run with a kill for a 30-29 lead. After a kill and block by the Red Flash, Saint Francis University took the set at 35-33.
The Tritons controlled the third set early on in the game before Saint Francis University pummeled within 29-27. After UCSD called a timeout, a Saint Francis University service error gave the Tritons a win at 30-27.
UCSD jumped out to an 18-10 lead in the fourth and final set and never looked back,
cruising to the championship match after a 30-18 win.
Three Tritons were named all-tournament players: Bannan, senior libero Eric Leserman and Ehrman. UCSD had more players named to the all-tournament team than any other squad at the Hall of Fame Morgan Classic. The Triton win boosts the team’s confidence, as UCSD heads into the beef of its season against MPSF opponents.
‘Hopefully, we can keep building on our success and use the momentum we got from this past weekend’s victories over George Mason and Saint Francis to win some more matches,’ Bannan said. The Tritons’ recent success has led to their highest national ranking ever at No. 10.
‘We are happy with the higher ranking, but we do realize that the meat of our season is coming up,’ Ehrman said. ‘We have a lot of conference games coming up and those are the ones we need to focus on. Our eyes aren’t necessarily on the playoffs right now. We simply want to get through this weekend and continue to put ourselves in a good spot for the rest of the year.’
The Tritons travel to Provo, Utah, to take on a familiar MPSF opponent, No. 9 Brigham Young University. The teams will square off on Feb. 20 and Feb. 21 in the Tritons’ seventh and eight consecutive road games. The Tritons are 0-29 all-time against the Cougars, including two losses last year at RIMAC Arena, when the Cougars were ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Readers can contact Cameron Tillisch at [email protected].