LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 14th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team (8-15, 4-12 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) travels to Honolulu to take on No. 4 Hawaii (15-8, 11-7 MPSF) on April 2-3 with a first serve set for 7:00 p.m. (HT) each night. Last year the Tritons took down the Warriors twice in RIMAC, defeating Hawaii 3-1 and 3-2. Those wins are the only two wins against Hawaii in 39 all-time meetings. With six conference games remaining, the Tritons are looking for wins as they enter the week just four games out of the final MPSF playoff spot.
Hawaii is tough to beat on its home court as the Warriors are 10-3 at home this season. Last week Hawaii was in action in Malibu and split two matches against Pepperdine. UH lost the first match 30-26, 34-32, 30-26 and won the second match 30-21, 34-32, 30-24.
Hawaii is led by Jonas Umlauft with 4.99 kills per set and Joshua Walker with 4.40 kills per set. Matt Rawson has a team-high .386 hitting percentage and leads the Warriors with 1.24 blocks per set. Ric Cervantes has a team-high 2.57 digs per set and Nejc Zemljak averages 12.88 assists per set. Hawaii hits at a .296 average as a team.
Last week the Tritons suffered a 30-18, 30-12, 30-20 loss to No. 1 Stanford but rebounded to sweep Pacific 30-20, 30-28, 30-17. The Tritons have had the majority of their success on the road, with six of their eight wins coming away from RIMAC Arena.
Frank Fritsch leads the Tritons with 3.69 kills per set while Jason Spangler adds 3.17 kills per set. Adrian Guthals leads the team with a .437 attack percentage and 1.09 blocks per set. Phil Bannan averages 12.50 assists per set and Andrew Kaban paces the Tritons with 1.91 digs per set.
In the UCSD career record book, Spangler holds the top mark with 1,400 kills. Fritsch has moved up to third place with 1,290 career kills and has a shot to move up to No. 2 this week. No. 2 is held by Jim Waller who had 1,301 kills from 2001-04.
Spangler is also fourth in career digs with 561 and second in career aces with 79. Spangler trails Waller who had 80 aces as a Triton.
Phil Bannan enters the week with 3,179 career assists. The junior setter trails the No. 1 mark of 3,867 assists by former Triton Brooks Dierdorff.
