Fresh off a three-game win streak, UC San Diego men’s volleyball (6-0, 0-0 Big West) netted a sweeping 25-15, 25-18, 25-17 straight-set victory over the George Mason University Patriots (0-3, 0-0 EIVA) on Tuesday night at LionTree Arena.
Only one week into the season, the Tritons came into Tuesday’s match with momentum. They had reason to be confident: UCSD had opened the season with three dominant straight-set home-court victories.
“We’re feeling really good,” junior outside hitter Leo Pravednikov said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian. “We’re really confident as a team, especially coming off those wins.”
Prior to the match, No. 17 UCSD sat just ahead of No. 18 George Mason in the AVCA/NVA Men’s Volleyball Coaches Poll. The Patriots were familiar with a West Coast-loss, having fallen 3-1 to UCSD in their first game of the season last year.
On Tuesday, history repeated itself. UCSD kept its perfect record, soundly putting the Patriots away in straight sets.
The Tritons hit the court with a dominant first set, putting up 3 points before the Patriots could get on the board. They stayed in the lead thanks to defensive efforts from redshirt middle blocker Jim Garrison, who would continue to hinder George Mason’s attack attempts with eight blocks throughout the match, and spikes from Pravednikov. The Patriots struggled to match UCSD’s offensive firepower and called a timeout when the Tritons built an early 10-6 lead.
George Mason’s pep talk was unsuccessful, with the Patriots going on to give UCSD 10 points in attack errors. UCSD took the first set with a decisive score of 25-15.
Hoping to slow UCSD’s momentum, George Mason put up a tighter defense in the second set. The Patriots could receive well but suffered from attack errors.
Powerhouse offensive performances from Pravednikov, senior opposite hitter Anthony Cherfan, and redshirt junior outside hitter Josh Schellinger kept the Tritons ahead. The trio led UCSD in kills for the match, scoring 15, nine, and six, respectively.
Up 24-18, UCSD searched for set point. The Patriots refused Schellinger’s tip and blocked Cherfan’s spike, but Garrison slammed down a kill to take the second set with a score of 25-18.
The Patriots clawed themselves back into contention in the third set, tying and occasionally pulling ahead of the Tritons. The third set saw close 8-8, 12-11, 15-15 score lines before UCSD found its stride again. The Tritons’ biggest obstacle wasn’t the Patriots’ offense — which made 24 attack errors to UCSD’s nine — but their own service errors.
By the end of the match, the Tritons had accumulated 20 service errors to George Mason’s 11. The small mistakes added up, but UCSD’s offense easily closed the gap.
The Patriots were desperate to stay in the game. Trying to capitalize on the back line perimeter, they served most of their points close to the line.
Unfortunately for them, that was graduate student setter Bryce Dvorak’s territory. Dvorak, playing in his first season at UCSD, racked up 27 assists to put the outside hitters in prime position to score. Combined with Pravednikov’s explosive kills, UCSD came out on top in rallies and coaxed the Patriots into attack errors. George Mason stayed in contact until both teams tied at 15-15. The Tritons were ready to put the game away and uphold their perfect streak, with not a single lost set this season.
UCSD picked up the pace. Dvorak made a one-handed dig to save the point. Cherfan slid to send the ball towards Pravednikov, who slammed it down to bring the score to 17-15 in favor of the Tritons.
From there, it was a race to the finish line. Schellinger and redshirt junior middle blocker Peter Selcho blocked George Mason’s attempted attack to score match point, claiming the set 25-17. The 3-0 victory extended UCSD’s undefeated four-game record.
UCSD capped off the game with a dominant hitting percentage of .394 to George Mason’s -.090. Pravednikov led the Tritons with 15 kills and a .682 hitting percentage.
“We’re definitely ranked a little bit lower than we think we are,” Pravednikov said. “So [it’s] just kind of [about] having that chip on our shoulder and proving to people that we have some more in stock for us this season.”
The Tritons headed up to Northridge over the weekend to face Lindenwood and Purdue Fort Wayne at the Under Armour Challenge. UCSD followed up a 3-1 victory over Lindenwood on Friday, Jan. 17, by defeating Purdue 3-0 on Saturday evening, Jan. 18.
They will battle the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles this Thursday before returning to LionTree Arena for a match against Vanguard on Jan. 24. Currently 6-0, the Tritons seek to add another home sweep to their perfect record so far this season.
Emma • Jan 22, 2025 at 9:20 am
Great article! I love Abby Kapur.