LA JOLLA, Calif. — Senior outside hitter Ryan Ka put down a career-high 31 kills as the UC San Diego men's volleyball team took 12th-ranked Ball State to five sets but came up just short Sunday at LionTree Arena.

Scores of the match went 23-25, 25-19, 25-15, 23-25, and 15-12 in favor of Ball State.

The Tritons fell to 6-10 after the non-conference loss, while the Cardinals upped their season record to 11-6.

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HOW IT HAPPENED
In the fifth and deciding set, Ball State jumped out to a 2-0 lead after flooring back-to-back service aces. In fact, the Cardinals won four of the first five points. They stayed in front until a Ka kill evened it up at 5-5. After trading points, UC San Diego earned its first lead of the set when a Josh Ewert kill made it 7-6. However, Ball State won four of the next five points. During that span, a Triton error from the service line allowed the Cardinals to move ahead, 9-8, and they stayed in that position the rest of the way. UC San Diego closed the gap to a single point three times, the last coming at 12-11 by way of another kill by Ka. Ball State won the next two points on back-to-back kills from Bryce Behrendt to get to match point at 14-11. That was spoiled by Ka's final kill of the match, but Behrendt secured the Cardinals' victory with another kill.  

Ball State exhibited strong offense and defense in the match. The Cardinals finished with a .378 (60-15-119) attack percentage and 16 blocks (30 assisted, one solo), the most by any UC San Diego opponent this season.

The Tritons laid down a .272 (62-25-136) attack and had just two blocks. However, they held advantages in kills (62-60) and assists (58-54).

Both teams had 37 digs in the battle.

The second set produced the best offensive showing from both squads as UC San Diego hit .462 (16-4-26) and Ball State came in at an errorless .714 (15-0-21).

While amassing his 31 kills, Ka hit a robust .431 with only six errors in 58 attack attempts. He also had an ace, a block, and a dig.

Several other mentionable career-bests were attained by Tritons Sunday including sophomore setter Gabriel Dyer's 51 assists, freshman libero Evan Boyle's 14 digs, and sophomore outside Sam Warren's 11 kills.

Kaleb Jenness, the 2022 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association's (MIVA) Player of the Year and preseason favorite to repeat in 2023, led Ball State with 21 kills while hitting .390 (21-5-41). Tinaishe Ndavazocheva followed with 15 kills and Felix Egharevba was a force at the net, racking up 10 blocks. Defensively, Dyer Ball and David Flores each had nine digs.

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QUOTABLE FROM HEAD COACH BRAD ROSTRATTER


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TRITON TIDBITS
• Ryan Ka's 31 kills are the third-most in a five-set NCAA Division I or NCAA Division II match this season (33 by Isaiah Fedd of Fort Valley State, 32 by Uriel Batista of Concordia).
• Ka's 31 kills are the fourth-most in any NCAA Division I or NCAA Division II match this season (35 by Raas Jesse Delancy of Bendict).
• The last Triton to produce at least 31 kills was Tanner Syftestad, who had 31 on Jan. 28, 2017 against Hope International (five sets).
• Former Triton Frank Fritsch had 33 kills in a win against Hawai'i on March 13, 2009 (four sets).
• Ka's previous career-high for kills was 25 against UC Irvine on March 12, 2021.
• Ka's .431 hitting percentage was just below his career-best .438 against Stanford in January of 2022.
• Gabriel Dyer's 51 assists were one more than his previous best of 50.
• Josh Ewert's eight kills were the second-most of the season for the freshman outside.
• It was the third five-set match for the Tritons this season (win against Lincoln Memorial and losses to USC and Ball State).
• It was the final regular season non-conference match for the Tritons. 
• Ball State lost in four sets at No. 4 Long Beach State Friday night.
• Nine Tritons have made their collegiate debuts so far this season: Evan Boyle, Joshua Ewert, Jim Garrison, Michael Robertson, Brett Pursley, Josh Schellinger, Peter Selcho, Sam Warren, Zachary Weston.
• Brad Rostratter, who was named UC San Diego's head coach on Oct. 7, 2022, earned his first win with the Tritons on Jan. 5 when they defeated Lincoln Memorial.

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UP NEXT
UC San Diego jumps into full-time Big West action with a home-and-home series against No. 6 UC Irvine. The Tritons and Anteaters play at the Bren Center in Irvine on Friday, March 10, before the two rivals go at it inside LionTree Arena on Saturday, March 11. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets for all home matches in La Jolla are available through the Triton Box Office.

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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 in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III 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 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.