The UCSD men’s volleyball team ended its season last week, April 12 and April 13, dropping two games to No. 14 University of Hawaii. The Tritons went down in four rounds on Friday and were just edged in five the following day at RIMAC Arena.

The match marked the last game for three Triton seniors: outside hitter Carl Eberts, libero Chase Frishman and middle blocker Greg Smith. Eberts — a fifth-year senior — will leave UCSD as one of only five Tritons to crack 1,000 kills, finishing a stellar career with 1,044 kills. Frishman will also close out his career with his name in the record books. The libero is eighth on the all-time list for most career digs, with 455 in total. Last season, both Eberts and Frishman garnered All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honorable mention nods and will likely receive another award for their accomplishments this season.

“[Eberts] is up there in a lot of categories, and it really tells you how good he is in all areas,” UCSD head coach Kevin Ring said. “We’re losing something there for sure, and we have a lot of guys, and they’re going to be able to step up, but to have a guy that’s that skilled at all phases of the game is pretty impressive — we’re going to miss him.”

As has been the case for most of the season, Eberts and Frishman figured prominently in UCSD’s last two campaigns. On Friday, UCSD went down in the first set before coming back strong to take the second, ultimately falling in the third and fourth. Eberts led the attack with 13 kills for 16.5 points. Redshirt sophomore Nick Iorfino — who has slowly built up his minutes over the course of the season — picked up 12 kills, while junior outside hitter Johl Awerkamp recorded 11 kills on top of four digs. Defensively, Smith and junior Sebastian Brady both posted four blocks apiece.

When asked where his team may have gone wrong, Ring said that despite sticking with Hawaii statistically, the Tritons had difficulty coming up late in games.

“There were a few mental errors on our side of the net, some late service errors. It’s one of those things that we talk about — finishing the game,” Ring said. “You can’t wait for it to come to you. Teams in this league are too good, and they’re going to make those plays.”

The following night, the Tritons dug deep in their bench, with contributions coming from across the roster. Brady came up big to close out the season, with a .500 attack percentage, 11 kills on three errors, and four blocks. Smith also recorded 11 kills, but offensively, junior Vaun Lennon led UCSD with 14 kills and seven digs. 

But in the five-game affair, University of Hawaii sophomore Brook Sedore stole the show, finishing with 31 kills, the only Rainbow Warrior to record kills in double digits. With the two late wins, the University of Hawaii clinched its place in the conference tournament.

“It was a tough loss, but we fought until the end,” Eberts said to the UCSD Athletics Department. “I’m proud of the guys. Everybody played well. We just came up a little bit short.”

UCSD ends its season with a 7–22 overall record and a 4–20 record in the MPSF. The Tritons finish last in the 13-team conference, the worst finish since the 2007 season, when UCSD went 5–23 overall and 2–20 in the MPSF.

The Tritons will not qualify for the nine-team MPSF conference championships, held this Saturday, April 20.