The UCSD men’s volleyball team was swept by the No. 5-ranked University of Hawaii Manoa’s Rainbow Warriors in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match held at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Tritons were leading by as many as six points in the opening set and also had a set point. Ultimately, they lost the lead and the set, with the final scores for the game being 30–28, 25–19 and 25–22.
UCSD lost both road matches on the Hawaiian islands, making its record 3–7 and 0–6 in the MPSF, while the University of Hawaii now sits at an 8–1 record and is 3–1 in league matches. The Rainbow Warriors look ahead to No. 1 UCLA for two matches next week. Hawaii had a strong home court advantage as it beat the Tritons in front of 2,881 people and remains at a perfect 7–0 at home with 16 consecutive home wins going back to last season.
UCSD’s junior outside hitter Ian Colbert tied his career high with a team-leading 19 kills; it was his second game with 19 kills in three matches, as he also had 19 kills against Princeton on Wednesday. He reached it on a single-match high of 46 attacks (.217). Sophomore middle blocker Alec Flowers hit a career best .600 (7–1–10) while teammate junior middle blocker Shayne Beamer tied his career high with five total blocks. Senior outside hitter Kirill Rudenko had two service aces off the bench and junior outside hitter Josh Schmidt added nine kills and eight digs. Sophomore setter Milosh Stojcic finished off with 33 assists, eight digs, two blocks and two kills on three attacks.
Senior outside hitter Sinisa Zarkovic had 21 kills for University of Hawaii, leading all players while hitting .594 (21–2–32). Hawaii out-blocked UCSD, 13.0–6.0, with junior middle blocker Ian McKellar getting seven by himself. Junior setter Jennings Franciskovic contributed 37 assists while senior libero Kolby Kanetake added 15 digs.
UCSD got off to a fast start, coming out with a 7–3 advantage that led to Hawaii calling its first timeout of the night. Sophomore setter Tanner Syftestad and Flowers had a stuff block that gave the Tritons a 15–9 lead. The Rainbow Warriors would come back to tie it at 22, but Rudenko scored an ace that would lead to another Hawaii timeout. It was a set point after Syftestad added a kill, but that was short-lived as a kill by junior outside hitter Kupono Fey, and a combo block by Fey and Mckellar would give Hawaii its first set point. A Beamer kill would even the score once again.
A service error and three kills by Zarkovic gave Hawaii four more set points. The Tritons would answer three set points with two kills by Colbert and one by Flowers. A solo block by junior middle blocker Hendrik Mol on Colbert gave the Rainbow Warriors the first set.
The second set saw the Tritons up 12–10, and quickly gain a couple of one-point leads and five tie scores. Hawaii would score the next five to force a timeout at 17–10, and it would be ahead by at least four points for the rest of the set.
During the third set, the score was tied late at 22–22 before Hawaii finished the sweep by winning three points in a row.
The Tritons are back home for two conference matches this week. UCSD will host California Baptist on Feb. 5 and USC on Feb. 6.
