IRVINE, Calif. — After hitting a season-low -.029 the 19th-ranked UC San Diego men's volleyball team fell in straights sets on the road at Concordia Thursday night.

The Tritons dropped to 3-8 overall while the Golden Eagles improved to 4-1.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego finished with 25 kills and 27 errors in 83 attack attempts.

On the other side of the net, Concordia attacked at .269 with 22 kills and just eight errors in 52 swings. 

A big factor in the Tritons' stagnant attack was the fact that the Golden Eagles held a 13-3 advantage in blocks.

UC San Diego held leads in kills (25-22) and assists (22-17). Both teams had four service aces and Concordia had a slim, 21-19 lead in digs.

Individually, UC San Diego's Anthony Cherfan led all players with seven kills and libero Evan Boyle had five digs.

For CUI, Christian Galoppo had six kills and Ties Cornelissen followed closely with five. Galoppo and Max McCullough each had six blocks. Yotam Briger had a match-high eight digs.

The opening set of the night saw CUI win the first point with UC San Diego taking the next four, all on kills with setter Andrew Boyle providing two of them. The Golden Eagles returned the favor with a four-point run of their own. A kill by Triton Leo Wiemelt evened it at 8-8, but Concordia took the ensuing two points to go up 10-8 and the lead would remain with the Eagles the rest of the way. With UC San Diego back within two points at 16-14, CUI earned five-straight points to take a 21-14 advantage. Later up 22-17, the Eagles closed it out with three-consecutive points, two coming of kills by Galoppo and Cornelissen.

The second frame was again tight early. Tied 6-6 after a Cherfan kill, Concordia peeled off five-straight points that contributed to a 10-2 run. The Golden Eagles finished strong. Ahead 19-13, they won six-straight points to take the set and go up 2-0 in the match. CUI posted its lowest attack percentage of the match at .143.

The third set was very competitive. Neither team held a lead of over three points up until 13-13. Concordia then caught fire again, taking the next four points to go in front by a 17-13 count. UC San Diego retaliated. Behind 22-18, the Tritons battled to take the next four points and tie it 22-22. Selcho had a kill and Andrew Boyle had a block during that span. Two consecutive attack errors by the Tritons allowed the Golden Eagles to get to match point at 24-22. After a CUI service error let UC San Diego back within one, a Briger kill ended the match.
 
TRITON TIDBITS
• It was the first time this season that the Tritons hit in the negative.
• The win brought CUI even with UC San Diego at 8-8 in the all-time series between the two. 
• CUI has won the last two meetings.
• UC San Diego head coach Brad Rostratter played for CUI, graduating in 2013. He was then an assistant coach for the Golden Eagles from 2013-16.  

UP NEXT
The Tritons play two matches at Long Beach State's tournament next week. On Feb. 15, the Tritons take on Central State (2pm) and the next day they play Edward Waters (5pm).
 
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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 84 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.