LA JOLLA, California – Just more than a year ago, UC San Diego announced plans to transition its athletics program to NCAA Division I status and join the Big West Conference.
One of the significant benefits of competing at the Division I level will be on full display next week when the University will receive national exposure through its first-ever ESPN3 production in RIMAC Arena.
The Triton men's volleyball team hosts UCLA, currently ranked sixth in the country, Friday at 7 p.m. in a non-conference match that will serve as the first of 13 home ESPN3 appearances.
"Each of our UC San Diego athletic programs, as well as the entire University and the community, will benefit greatly through our increased exposure on the ESPN family of networks," said UC San Diego director of athletics Earl Edwards. "We look forward to showcasing our great institution and athletics program, as well as providing UC San Diego students an opportunity to gain valuable live video production experience, through our production of games on ESPN3."
Men's volleyball is the only UC San Diego program currently competing in the Big West, with the women's water polo team joining the league next spring and 14 of the Tritons' 23 intercollegiate sport programs joining in fall 2020.
Starting Friday, every home Triton men's volleyball match this season in RIMAC Arena will be produced by UC San Diego Athletics and distributed through ESPN's digital network, which is anchored by popular online streaming service ESPN3 (WatchESPN.com).
UC San Diego's production of men's volleyball will feature Miles Himmel and Ted Mendenhall handling play-by-play duties, while Tritons women's volleyball coach Ricci Luyties, a two-time All-American and Olympic gold medalist, will provide color analysis. Garrett Zrake will serve as the event's producer. The video production crew includes former and current UC San Diego students.
Productions will originate from the newly-constructed video production suite, located in RIMAC Arena. The state-of-the-art facility was built as part of a recent renovation of the arena, which included the installation of a 50' x 15' Daktronics video board and a new courtside LED scorer's table. The design and equipment in the video production suite was developed with ESPN's broadcast standards in mind.
ESPN3 events are available through the ESPN website (espn.com/watch), the ESPN app on mobile devices, or on connected streaming devices (examples being Apple TV, Roku devices, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, PS4, etc.). To access live ESPN3 programming, you must authenticate on the website or in the app using your video/cable provider account.
Non-participating TV provider customers may have access to ESPN3 programming online at WatchESPN.com, as long as they subscribe to a participating high speed internet service provider. Users accessing WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN or ESPN mobile application via an on-campus (.edu) or on-base (.mil) network receive complimentary access to ESPN3 content.
More information can be found by clicking here.
About UC San Diego Athletics
With 30 national team championships, nearly 150 individual titles and the top student-athlete graduation rate among Division II institutions in the United States, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program annually ranks as one of the most successful in the country. The Tritons sponsor 23 intercollegiate sport programs that compete on the NCAA Division I and II levels and, in summer 2020, will transition into full Division I status as a member of the Big West Conference. UC San Diego student-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent. A total of 80 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 36 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. In competition, more than 1,300 UC San Diego student-athletes have earned All-America honors.
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For complete coverage and information regarding UC San Diego Athletics, follow the Tritons online at UCSDtritons.com and through social media on Twitter (@ucsdtritons), Instagram (@ucsdtritons) and Facebook (ucsdtritons).
