Feb. 29, 2008
LA JOLLA, Calif. - The No. 12 UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team was upset in straight sets by un-ranked UC San Diego Friday at RIMAC Arena with scores coming in at 30-27, 30-22, and 30-24. It was just the second time in 34 all-time meetings that the Tritons had topped the Gauchos.
UCSB fell to 7-9 overall and 5-7 in the MPSF, while UCSD is now 5-12 and 2-10 in the conference. The Tritons' only other in-league victory was a 3-1 downing of reigning national champion UC Irvine back in January.
UCSB is now 32-2 all-time against UC San Diego. The first time the Tritons topped the Gauchos was April 9, 2004 in La Jolla. It was a five-gamer with scores going 33-35, 33-31, 30-22, 28-30, and 15-12 in favor of UCSD.
Tonight's win was the first time in UC San Diego history that the Tritons swept an MPSF opponent.
Strong hitting propelled UCSD to the win as the Tritons hit .420 with 50 kills and 16 errors in 81 attacks. Santa Barbara hit .244 with 39 kills and 19 miscues in 82 swings.
The Gauchos were led by freshman Jeff Menzel with 13 kills, two aces, and 15.5 points. Senior middle Theo Brunner had 14 kills and hit .435, while libero Andy McGuire had a team high four digs.
UCSD, which used just seven players, was paced by Frank Fritsch with a match best 17 kills. Jason Spangler added 12 kills, while Russ Hardy hit .538 with nine kills and two errors in 13 sets.
In the midst of its longest road swing of the season, UCSB plays at No. 2 Long Beach State Mar. 1 at 7 p.m.
-- www.UCSBGauchos.com --
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