LA JOLLA, Calif. - Twelfth-ranked UC San Diego was defeated by No. 7 Long Beach State, 3-1, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) men's volleyball match at RIMAC Arena on Saturday night. Game scores were 25-17, 25-17, 17-25 and 25-20.

With the loss, the Tritons dropped to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference. The 49ers improved to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in league play. The meeting was the second between the teams this season, with Long Beach State already having edged UCSD in five sets in the third-place match at the UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational on Jan. 5. They will play at least once more at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach on March 6.

The first three sets were largely controlled by the team that ultimately won them, with the third frame in particular featuring no tie scores and no lead changes as UCSD was on top for the entirety.

After the host Tritons had pulled a set back to trail by just a game at 2-1, the fourth frame was knotted a total of 13 times, with the 49ers finally prevailing via five straight points to turn a 20-20 deadlock into a 25-20 victory to end the contest.

Dalton Ammerman had a match-high 16 kills and team-high nine digs for LBSU while reigning MPSF Molten Player of the Week Taylor Crabb added 15 kills and eight digs. Junior setter Connor Olbright distributed 50 assists. The 49ers held a team blocks advantage of 12.5-4.5.

Junior outside hitter Vaun Lennon, celebrating his birthday, paced the Tritons with 11 kills to go along with five digs. Senior libero Chase Frishman led all players with 11 digs. Sophomore Nick Iorfino had a season-high 10 kills while true freshman Cory Swartzbaugh also made a contribution off the bench with a career-best five kills in just his second collegiate appearance.

The Tritons conclude a three-match homestand this Wednesday, Jan. 30, against non-conference Princeton. First serve at RIMAC Arena is set for an earlier 5 p.m.

Triton Notes: With three more kills tonight, Carl Eberts increased his career total to 859, ninth-most in program history, as he vies to become just the fifth Triton ever to reach the 1,000-kill plateau ... Vaun Lennon now has 19 career matches with 10-plus kills ... With his 11 digs, Chase Frishman has 519 for his career, sixth-most on the all-time UCSD list ... Frishman has three matches this season with 10-plus digs and 20 for his career ... Nick Iorfino achieved a double-digit kills total for the first time in 2013 and sixth time in his career, with the previous five coming in 2011 prior to a redshirted 2012 ... Cory Swartzbaugh played the last three sets, starting the final two, after having previously only played in the season opener against Lewis on Jan. 4 ... In the intermission between the second and third sets, the 2012 national runner-up banner of the UCSD women's soccer team was unveiled at RIMAC Arena.

-- UCSDtritons.com --