LONG BEACH, Calif. – A strong all-around effort led the UC San Diego Men's Volleyball team to an exhibition win Friday, 3-0, against Calgary.

Set scores inside Walter Pyramid went 25-21, 25-11, and 25-22.

The match was the first of three exhibitions for the Tritons at Long Beach State's North American Challenge.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
As a team, UC San Diego posted a .390 attack percentage with 33 kills and 10 errors in 59 swings. Calgary finished at .194 (26-14-62).

Offensively, the Tritons were led by senior opposite Anthony Cherfan and junior outside Leo Pravednikov, who each put down a match-high 10 kills while hitting over .500.

Setter Bryce Dvorak orchestrated the offense by dishing out 24 assists while adding four service aces and four digs.

Defensively, Cherfan and junior middle Jim Garrison had four blocks apiece. Garrison also rang up five kills and a pair of aces. Sophomore libero Keegan Cook led all players with five digs.

There were 13 tie scores in the match and just four lead changes.

The opening set was tight the whole way through. At 6-6, UC San Diego won three consecutive points to take a 9-6 lead, the first three-point advantage of the set. Dvorak and Cherfan had back-to-back kills during the run and the Tritons were able to stay in front the rest of the way. The Dinos kept it close, however, and got back within three points at 24-21. However, the set ended on a serve error by Calgary.

The Tritons hit .714 (11-1-1) in the second frame, their best of the match. Conversely, the Dinos hit .000, their lowest of the match. UC San Diego came out firing, scoring the set's first 11 points. Cherfan's fourth kill of the set would put the Tritons up 2-0.

In the third set, the Dinos produced their best offense, hitting .345 (13-3-29). Trailing 6-5, the Tritons took their first lead of the set when Cherfan had a kill followed by an ace, putting his squad up 7-6. The teams battled all the way up to 19-19. At that point, middle Peter Selcho dropped a kill to bring it to 20-19 UC San Diego. An ace from Dvorak got the Tritons to match point at 24-20. Calgary turned aside two of UC San Diego's winning bids, but an error from the service line by the Dinos proved to be the final point of the match.
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WHAT HEAD COACH BRAD ROSTRATTER HAD TO SAY
"It was great to be out on the court competing. We are grateful to be a part of the North American Challenge and compete against Canadian universities. As for the match, there were ups and downs that come with the start of a new season, so it was valuable to work through them as a group. Our passing and ability to give us more chances to sideout were our stabilizing factors. It allowed our offense, blocking, and serving to separate us at various points throughout the match."
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TRITON TIDBITS
• Senior opposite Anthony Cherfan was named to the 2025 Big West Men's Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Team.
• Setter Bryce Dvorak, a grad student, transferred to UC San Diego this season following three years at Pepperdine.
• UC San Diego defeated Calgary 3-1 in a December of 2023 scrimmage in La Jolla.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego wraps up play at the North American Challenge Saturday with a pair of exhibition matches. At noon, the Tritons take on Saskatchewan and then go up against Trinity Western at 4:30 p.m. Both contests will be played at LBSU's Goldmine and can be followed with live stats.

Following this tournament, UC San Diego plays its next four matches at LionTree Arena in La Jolla. Season tickets and single-match tickets are available through the Triton Box Office.
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