California Baptist University
UC San Diego
Fifth-Set Decision
3/14/2014 3:51:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
LA JOLLA, Calif. --- California Baptist University couldn't hold off a victory-hungry UC San Diego squad, dropping a five-set match to the Tritons Thursday night (25-20, 20-25, 23-25, 27-25, 15-10).
The Lancers fall to 4-16, 2-15 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while the Tritons grab their first conference win to improve to 2-18 and 1-17 in conference.
Johannes Brink spearheaded the CBU attack with 21 kills on the night, leading three other Lancers with double-digit kills. Rocky DeLyon followed with 14 kills and Kristopher Johnson and Joel Blocksom added 10 kills a piece.
After dropping the first set 25-20, the Lancers bounced back in the second to take it 25-20. Tied 10-10, CBU exploded on a six-point run to take control of the set. Brink initiated the run with a kill and capped it with an ace to put his team in front.
UCSD tried to rally back and put the score within four at 23-19, but Johnson slammed down a kill to be at set-point. The Tritons scored another, but couldn't put a comeback together as they committed a service error to hand CBU the set 25-20.
Amir Lugo-Rodriguez opened the third frame with a kill, but the two teams exchanged points to keep the set close. Even at 9-9, the Tritons committed another service error and couldn't get past Brink's solo block to trail 11-9.
CBU opened up a 16-11 lead off a DeLyon ace, but once again UCSD fought to keep the game close and rallied from a 24-19 deficit to put the game within one point. The Lancers would have none of that and finished the set 25-23 to hold a 2-1 upperhand in the match.
The home team came back to force a fifth and deciding set after taking the fourth 27-25, and carried momentum into the final. Despite CBU going the fifth set without committing an error, the Tritons walked away with a 15-10 set win to claim the match 3-2.
Looking to bounce back, the Lancers will take a break from MPSF action on Saturday, hosting Erskine at 4 p.m.
