HONOLULU - Outside hitters Kyle McCauley and Ryan Ka combined for 27 kills but it wasn't enough as the 12th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team was defeated 3-1 by No. 1 Hawaii Friday evening at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
Scores of the Big West Conference match went 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, and 25-15.
With the loss, the Tritons drop to 1-6 overall and 1-2 in league play. The Rainbow Warriors remain undefeated at 8-0 on the season and 3-0 in the Big West. It was just the third time this season that an opponent has won a set against Hawaii.
McCauley finished with a match-high 17 kills while hitting .364 (17-5-33) and adding six digs. Ka put away 10 kills to go along with two block assists, two digs, and a service ace. Middle Shane Benetz and opposite Collin Shannon each had three block assists while Benetz and fellow middle Logan Clark had five kills apiece. Libero Matt Palma had nine digs and setter Blake Crisp assisted on 25 kills.
UC San Diego hit just .170 with 41 kills and 23 errors in 106 attack attempts. The Tritons also struggled at the service line with three aces against 17 errors. Hawaii hit .314 (51-19-102) and totaled 12.5 blocks and seven aces with 17 errors. The Warriors held a 33-25 advantage in digs.
The Warriors were led by Rado Parapunov who matched McCauley with 17 kills. Colten Cowell had 14 kills and Chaz Galloway was just behind with 13 while hitting .417 (13-3-24). Guilherme Voss had six blocks, two coming as solos. Four other players had four block assists apiece.
TRITON TIDBITS
• It was the third time the teams have met this season, but the first Big West tilt. The Warriors swept the Tritons twice in La Jolla in late February.
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Collin Shannon's three blocks were a season-high.
• The Tritons' 17 serve errors were a season-high.
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Kyle McCauley has totaled at least 10 kills in all seven of the Tritons' matches this season.
• UC San Diego was without senior outside hitter
Wyatt Harrison for the sixth consecutive match due to injury.
UP NEXT
It's rematch time almost immediately as UC San Diego and Hawaii go at it again Saturday evening in Honolulu. First serve is set for 10 p.m. PDT.
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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions III and II and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
Return To Sport… Safely
In order for UC San Diego scholar-athletes to be permitted to return to training and competition safely and within federal, state, local, and university guidelines, the athletic department implemented a number of measures designed to complement and enhance the university's highly-successful Return To Learn program. Notable actions include being physically distanced when practical, including during out-of-season training sessions; wearing masks, except when undergoing physically strenuous exercise; and maintaining proper hygiene. Athletes, coaches, and staff are testing at a higher frequency than the campus population, teams adhere to CDC, NCAA, and Big West Conference guidelines, and department officials participate in regular meetings with conference and university-affiliated physicians and the UC San Diego emergency operations staff.
