LA JOLLA, Calif. - UC San Diego let a 12-5 advantage slip away midway through what ended up as a 29-27 defeat in a tight second set, and visiting Princeton University went on to the 3-0 sweep in non-conference men's volleyball action Wednesday night inside RIMAC Arena. Set scores were 25-18, 29-27 and 25-14.
UCSD fell to 1-6 overall, while Princeton improved to 2-4. It was a sixth consecutive match against a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) opponent in California for the Tigers, who return to the East Coast to begin Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) play at NJIT on Feb. 6. The teams had last met early in the 2013 season, also in La Jolla, with the Tritons 3-1 winners that time. UCSD still leads the all-time series, 14-6.
The first two frames featured a combined 19 tie scores and six lead changes, before Princeton used the momentum of having outlasted the Tritons in the second-set thriller, to cruise in the third. Kendall Ratter, a freshman outside hitter out of Encinitas (La Costa Canyon HS), put down his fifth kill of the night on match point.
In the opening game, the first blocks by either side came from Princeton, with Cody Kessel and Junior Oboh combining to deny Ian Colbert for an 11-10 Tiger edge. Ratter's ace made it 12-10, with a run of three points later giving the visitors a commanding 18-13 lead.
The second set saw stretches of four points and five points enable UCSD to go up by scores of 6-2 and 12-5, respectively. Princeton gradually chipped away and finally caught up, however, at 17-17 on a deft solo block by Alex Schindele-Murayama. A thunderous kill by Triton junior middle blocker Mathew Schnitzer later evened things up a ninth and final time for the game, at 27-27, but a Kessel kill and triple block by Kessel, Ratter and Schindele-Murayama ended it in favor of the Tigers. UCSD was unable to capitalize on a trio of set points at 24-23, 25-24 and 26-25.
The Tritons did come up with a triple block of their own early in the third to pull to within one at 4-3, courtesy of Colbert, Shayne Beamer and Tanner Syftestad.
Syftestad, celebrating his 20th birthday, finished with a team-high nine kills to go along with four digs and four total blocks. Colbert had a team-best seven digs alongside three kills and a match- and career-high two service aces. Beamer wound up with four block assists. Milosh Stojcic drew a third straight start at setter and collected 17 assists, while fellow true freshman Luke La Mont earned his first college start at an outside hitter position.
Kessel (15) and Oboh (11) were each in double-figure kills for Princeton. Kessel added eight digs and six total blocks, leading all players in the latter category. Oboh hit .625 (11-1-16) and got his hands to five blocks. Chris Kennedy dished out 34 assists. Libero Tony Ensbury handled a match-best nine digs.
UCSD travels to Provo, Utah, on Thursday, Jan. 29, and resumes the MPSF portion of its season with a pair of matches at No. 7 BYU on Friday, Jan. 30, and Saturday, Jan. 31. Both contests inside the Smith Fieldhouse are set for 6 p.m. PT (7 p.m. MT) first serves. Friday's meeting will be nationally televised by BYUtv. Check local listings.
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