MEN’S VOLLEYBALL ‘mdash; For the first time since 2007, the UCSD men’s volleyball team defeated the University of Southern California (12-5, 9-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) on March 6. The No. 8 Tritons (8-10, 4-9 MPSF) served the No. 5 Trojans a 3-1 loss (30-26, 30-25, and 30-26), proving themselves a serious threat in the conference. The Tritons almost pulled off another upset against an MPSF powerhouse the next night, but ultimately fell to No. 3 Pepperdine University after five sets.
UCSD will finish its stretch of consecutive conference home games this week against No. 12 University of Hawaii (4-11, 3-9 MPSF) March 13 and March 14 in RIMAC Arena at 7 p.m. The Tritons look to defeat Hawaii for the first time in UCSD history, as they stand 0-36 all-time against the Warriors.
Heading into the Pepperdine game with another winless all-time record (0-34) against the Waves (12-2, 11-2 MPSF), the Tritons were poised to pull off the upset of the year. After trumping USC and UCLA and competing in front of a packed house at RIMAC Arena, the perfe
ct stage was set for an unprecedented Triton upset.
Despite being outblocked by a 22.0-8.5 margin, the Tritons forced the game into five sets. Junior outside hitter Jason Spangler’s impressive performance ‘mdash; which included 24 kills and 11 digs ‘mdash; sparked the Tritons’ offensive attack, with 10 of his kills coming in the first set which the Tritons won.
Pepperdine reminded everyone why it’s the third best team in the nation, pulling away in the second after a 12-12 tie and cruising to a 30-20 win.
The Waves continued their domination into the third set, leading 19-10 before UCSD mustered a 10-4 run to pull the deficit within three. However, the Tritons could not complete the comeback, and Pepperdine closed the door on UCSD at a 30-26 score.
With late momentum in the third set carrying over to the fourth, the Tritons put the pressure back on the Waves and stepped up their game in a set that saw the score tied 15 times. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Will Ehrman broke a 10-10 tie, sending down back-to-back aces to give the Tritons a 12-10 lead. After the Waves fought back to tie the set again, sophomore middle back Calvin Ross threw down two consecutive kills to put the Tritons ahead 27-25. Ross put the set away on a kill and forced a fifth set at 30-28.
Pepperdine opened up to a 7-4 lead in the final set, but UCSD tied it up after a Spangler kill, a Pepperdine error and a Triton ace. Trailing 10-9, Pepperdine went on a small tear, taking a 14-12 lead. Senior middle back Gerald Houseman and sophomore setter Phil Bannan put up a block to add another point for the Tritons and make the score 14-13. Pepperdine proved to be a bit too tall a task for the Tritons, as the Waves held onto the slim lead, closing the game and set at 15-13.
‘I think we were able to stun them by coming out strong at the beginning of the match,’ Ehrman said. ‘As they steadied out, we faced one of the best blocking teams in the league. However, Jason [Spangler] and Gerald [Houseman] were on fire all night so they kept us in the game with big swings. When it came down to it, they just came up a little bigger than us at the end of game five.’
Houseman sent down 19 kills on .464 hitting in the game with junior opposite hitter Frank Fritsch and Ross contributing 12 each. Senior libero Eric Leserman led the Tritons with 13 digs, and Bannan finished the night with 67 assists, nine digs, three aces, three kills and three blocks. UCSD served up 10 aces, with three apiece coming from Ehrman and Bannan.
Despite the loss to the Waves, the Tritons put up an impressive display against what was at the time the second-ranked team in the country. Still, Friday night’s upset over No. 5 USC was UCSD’s highlight of the week.
‘Coming off of the UCLA win, we had a really solid week of practice and felt really confident going into the match with USC,’ Ehrman said. ‘We were able to get our serves going really early, especially Phil [Bannan]. We outpassed them all night, and most importantly, we were able to completely neutralize their best player, Murphy Troy, with our block.’
In front of 300 fans packed inside RIMAC Arena, UCSD looked to carry momentum from its Feb. 28 sweep of UCLA into the matchup with USC. Ehrman led the Tritons in a game where four players racked up double digits. Ross had a game-high 12 blocks while Bannan piled up 46 assists, eight blocks, six digs and three aces. Spangler recorded 13 kills, nine digs and four blocks in the game.
‘They were very intense matches, and it was good to see so many fans in the crowd cheering us on,’ Houseman said. ‘If we keep playing at a high level I feel that playoffs are definitely within grasp.’
The Tritons exploded in the first set to take a 10-6 lead. UCSD led 17-15 before the Trojans went on a five-point tear to take a 20-17 lead, sucking all the momentum out of UCSD. The Tritons pulled within one point, but USC took advantage of a UCSD error and its own kills. UCSD fought back aggressively on offense, which proved to be too tough for USC, allowing the Tritons to take the set 30-26.
‘We were able to attack them all night, and things really seemed to be going our way,’ Ehrman said. ‘It was just a really good night for us as a team.’
In the second set, the Tritons jumped out to a 19-12 lead, led by two Ross blocks and an Ehrman kill. USC pulled within two, but a Bannan and Ross block stopped the Trojans’ run to give UCSD a three-point lead. Ehrman sent down the match point for a win.
The third set was a back-and-forth battle that included 19 ties and four lead changes. The final tie came at 28 before Fritsch sent down a kill to force a match point. Spangler sent down the final kill for the win at 30-28.
The Tritons took total control early in the fourth, opening up to a 14-7 lead after an Ehrman ace. The Trojans would not go down without a fight, climbing within two points on multiple occasions. With the Tritons leading 26-24, two USC errors put UCSD in a favorable position. Ehrman finished off the final set of the game with a kill and a score of 30-26.
The win marks UCSD’s first over USC since its 2007 campaign. After a slow start, wins over UCLA and USC have turned UCSD’s season around, giving the Tritons a shot at the playoffs. UCSD has posted a 2-2 record so far in its biggest test of the season ‘mdash; a tough schedule of consecutive MPSF matchups that is nearly over.
In the win over USC, Spangler became the third Triton in school history to record at least 1,000 career kills. The junior from Thousand Oaks now has 1,027 career kills, 74 away from the all-time mark.
Readers can contact Cameron Tillisch at [email protected].