LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 14th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team came within one point of upsetting No. 6 USC in a 26-30, 30-21, 30-23, 26-30, 18-16 loss on Friday night in front of 505 fans in RIMAC Arena. Down 2-1, the Tritons rallied to force the fifth set. In the fifth, the Tritons led 14-11 and would go on to have four opportunities at match point, but the Trojans battled back each time and it was the Trojans emerging as the victors. Frank Fritsch led the way for UCSD with 22 kills. USC was led by Murphy Troy and Tony Ciarelli with 23 kills apiece. With the loss, UCSD drops to 10-19, 5-16 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while USC improves to 15-9, 12-8 MPSF.

Fritsch also added six digs and three blocks with his team-high 22 kills. Jason Spangler finished with 17 kills and six digs while Adrian Guthals had 15 kills on .650 hitting. Phil Bannan finished with a double-double with 61 assists and 15 digs. Joel Davidson came off the UCSD bench to send down nine kills on .389 hitting.

USC outhit UCSD .368 - .247 and outblocked the Tritons 17.0 - 10.0.

In the first set, UCSD scored five of the first six points before USC came back to tie the set at 13-13. The set would be tied eight more times, the final at 23-23. UCSD took the lead on a Fritsch kill, a Carl Eberts solo block and Fritsch ace at 26-23. UCSD took the set 30-26 after a Spangler kill and USC error.

USC outhit the Tritons .538 - .139 in the second set and it was more of the same in the third set. The third set saw the Trojans hit at a .484 clip, compared to just .175 for the Tritons. USC took the second set 30-21 and the third set 30-23, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set, UCSD jumped out to an 11-4 lead as USC used up both of its timeouts early. USC pulled within 17-15 and later 22-20. Fritsch recorded a kill followed by a Davidson ace to put UCSD up 24-20. The Tritons would then cruise to the 30-26 win, forcing the fifth set.

In the fifth set, USC took an 8-7 lead as the teams changed sides. The Tritons scored three straight points, capped by a Fritsch service ace and led 11-9. UCSD would take a 14-11 lead after a Spangler kill and looked to be in good position for the upset. After a UCSD service error, a UCSD attack error followed by a Ciarelli kill, tied the set at 14-14. Spangler stopped the bleeding with a kill to give UCSD another shot at set point, but his kill was matched by Troy's kill at 16-16. Troy sent down the go-ahead kill and a UCSD attack error ended the match with USC up 18-16.

UCSD is back in action on Saturday night when it hosts No. 3 Pepperdine on Senior Night. Triton seniors Fritsch, Spangler, Erik Sierks and Guthals will be honored in a brief ceremony before the 7:00 p.m. first serve.