LA JOLLA, Calif. – After dropping the first set UC San Diego came back to win the next three to take down CSUN in Big West men's volleyball action Thursday night at LionTree Arena.
Set scores were 20-25, 25-22, 25-12, and 25-22 in favor of the 18th-ranked Tritons, who improved to 10-10 overall and 2-2 in conference play. It was the team's third-consecutive victory.
The Matadors, ranked 16th nationally, dropped to 9-9 and 0-1.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego hit just .038 in the opening set but then caught fire, hitting .393 in the second and .563 in the third. For the match, the Tritons came in at .293 with 39 kills and 12 errors in 92 attack attempts. They had a 12-5 lead in blocks and an 8-5 advantage in service aces.
CSUN did not reach the .300 mark in any of the four sets, finishing at .233 with 52 kills and 25 errors in 116 swings. The Matadors' best attack came in the fourth set when they hit .276. The visitors did lead in several categories including kills (52-39), assists (51-38) and digs (32-29).
Individually, first-year Triton Anthony Cherfan led the team with 17.5 points on 12 kills, seven block assists, and two aces. The opposite also added seven digs on defense.
Middle blocker Jim Garrison had a good night, hitting .750 with six kills and no errors in eight attacks. He also had seven blocks (one solo) as well as an ace.
Outside hitter Josh Schellinger recorded eight kills and seven digs, while fellow outsides Sebastian Lara had seven kills and Brett Pursley served up two aces.
CSUN was led by Kyle Hobus and his match-high 23 kills. Matteo Salvador followed with 12. Chris Karnezis led all players with eight digs.
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MATCH HIGHLIGHTSÂ Â
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WHAT PETER SELCHOÂ HAD TO SAY
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TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego has won the last two meetings against CSUN.
• The Tritons' 22 block assists were tied for the second-most of the season.
• Overall, UC San Diego is out-blocking opponents 161-127.
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Anthony Cherfan has a team-high 193 kills.
Sebastian Lara is second with 129.
• Cherfan also leads the Tritons in aces with 28. He's had at least one ace in 11 of 19 matches played.
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UP NEXT
The two teams are back at it Friday night in Northridge. The match is slated for a 6 p.m. start at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
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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.
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