
UCSD hosted a showdown against No. 10 UC Irvine on April 9, looking to reverse a losing trend against the visiting Anteaters. The neighboring UC had defeated the Tritons four times over two years. So, last Friday, the Tritons flooded their home courts determined to bring the heat.
However, their spurt of determination was no match for the Anteaters’ consistent skill and the Tritons fell 30-23, 30-13, 30-21.
UCSD was jittery from the start, committing 12 attacking errors in the opening set — seven more than Irvine. Although the two teams initially kept the score tight, the Anteaters broke open a 9-9 tie with a 10-4 run, and eventually won the set 30-23.
UCSD committed fewer errors in the second set, but was unprepared for a spectacular offensive barrage from UC Irvine, who registered a .667 hitting average to claim the set 30-13.
In the third set, the Anteaters hit at .433 and jumped out to an early lead. The Tritons, struggling to cope with the opposing team’s offense, nearly tied the set at 23-21, but UC Irvine pushed through to score the game’s final seven points and win the third set 30-21.
The Triton offense — combining for a .053 hitting average, dwarfed by Irvine’s .416 average — was anemic. Moreover, the Tritons were out-blocked by the Anteaters 17.5 to 7.0.
Individually, however a few UCSD players still delivered sizable contributions throughout the game. Junior middle blocker Adrian Guthals made 10 kills on .467 hitting, and senior outside hitter Jason Spangler and sophomore middle blocker Cyrus Kiani earned 11 kills combined. Senior setter Phil Bannan had 28 assists and seven digs, and sophomore libero Andrew Kaban added nine digs.
The team had little time to dwell on their crushing Friday night defeat. On April 10, No. 7 UCLA came to RIMAC Arena hoping to capitalize on the Tritons’ recent troubles. However, in a surprise comeback, the Tritons rebounded from their Anteater beatdown by toppling UCLA 30-26, 30-25, 32-34 and 30-27 in a grueling four-set match.
The Tritons fell behind early when the Bruins grabbed a quick first-set lead. However, UCSD battled back to a 17-16 lead, thanks to senior opposite hitter Frank Fritsch. The two teams continued neck-and-neck until UCSD took the set at 30-26 after a UCLA error.
The second set proved even more unpredictable: The Tritons and Bruins battled through 14 ties and seven lead changes. Then, two consecutive UCLA errors followed by a Spangler ace gave the Tritons a 22-19 lead they held tight for the duration of the second set. UCSD pushed through to the end for a 30-25 win. The set point was punctuated by an emphatic Fritsch kill.
UCSD started off the third set strong, making a straight-set upset look possible. But, the Bruins fought back harder than ever to take a 23-20 lead.
The Tritons did not relent, and stole back the lead at 30-29; however, facing match point, UCLA scraped through to claim the set 34-32 on a service ace.
The fourth and final set began with a volatile competitiveness reminiscent of the second — the teams battled through 18 ties and seven lead changes. Two Fritsch kills broke a 27-27 tie to set up a match point for the Tritons, who proceeded to convert and take the final set 30-27. The Bruin beating was the Tritons’ second victory over UCLA out of three meetings this season.
In the match, Spangler served his 81st career service ace, making him UCSD’s all-time leader. Spangler said the team’s win against UCLA was due to an ability to string passes together — something he says the Tritons struggled with against Irvine.
“Compared to the night before, we passed better — that was the key difference,” Spangler said. “We built up our offense this time. We were more confident. The crowd helped. The past three years we have been close to UCLA, so there is always some excitement and motivation to play well.”
The Tritons will return to action on April 14 when they host Cal Baptist. Then on, April 16 and April 17, they will round off their season at RIMAC Arena against the University of Southern California and Pepperdine University, respectively.
Readers can contact Jessy Jahangir at [email protected].