COSTA MESA -- In a rematch with #13 UC San Diego, men's volleyball went the distance, nearly pulling off a reverse sweep in a 3-2 loss Friday night. The Tritons took control of the opening two sets inside the Freed Center with scores of 25-19 and 25-16, but VU was fluid in the third stanza to win 25-20.  A late ignition at the service line helped the Blue and Gold claim the fourth set 27-25 and the final period went down to the wire, with a close double-contact call granting UCSD match point, as the Tritons finished the night with a 15-13 win in set five.

The Lions now sit at 2-3 after playing in their first five-set match this season. The Tritons avoid an upset in the fifth set, improving to 9-2.

Grant Dvorak stole the show with a season-best 20 kills, four service aces, five digs, and three blocks. The senior swung .317 on the night and produced a vital run to help force the final set in the second game against his brother Bryce.  Nick Dvorak also pieced together a season-high with 10 kills on 17 swings for a rate of .412.  Micah Sybesma and Logan Freemon each piled on seven kills for the contest. Freemon nailed two services aces and four digs, while Sybesma tracked a match-best four blocks.  Brock Henderson tallied 30 helpers for the Blue and Gold, picked up four digs, and registered two aces.

The Tritons outhit VU .348 to .254 over the five sets. The Lions were also forced to hit out of the system for large portions of the match but earned a key advantage in service aces 13-6. UCSD led in total digs 39-30 and both teams finished deadlocked at five blocks apiece.

What Happened?  The offense was rolling early in the first set, with UC San Diego hitting .478 (12-1-23) and VU going .346 (13-4-26) to start proceedings. The Triton theme to success proved to be service errors, as the Blue and Gold committed eight to UCSD's two.

A bad set brandished the first VU point, and Grant Dvorak cracked his first two kills of the match for a set score of 3-3. The Tritons went on a strong serving run to create separation and took the Lions out of the system, opening an 8-0 run to lead 11-4.  A Phinehas Wiley bullet ace and Freemon smackdown into the rafters took VU within six, (12-6 UCSD) but the Lion rhythm came far too late, as the early Triton run handed the visitors the opening set.

Set 2 - Sybesma got to work in the second period, finding four of his seven kills in the frame. UCSD, however, were blazing themselves, hitting a match-best .632 (13-1-19) in the set and jumping to a 9-3 lead. Henderson tagged the back line for VU with his second ace of the night to make it 9-5 UCSD. The Tritons maintained pace and produced the first block of the match for either side to set it to 13-9. Sybesma soared and scored to help push a 4-2 run and place the Lions within six (17-11 UCSD), but the final points of the set were traded via service errors to hoist the Tritons up 2-0.

Set 3 - The third set was statistically the most narrow, with both UCSD's .107 (9-6-28) and VU's .083 (9-7-24) hitting percentages documented as match lows. Amid struggles to strike, the Blue and Gold won the set with a convincing 4-0 lead in service aces.

The Triton's 5-1 start ended with a service error and Freemon clipped an ace to pull one back for VU. UCSD then surrendered four straight attacking errors as the score flipped to 8-6 in favor of Vanguard. Errors kept both side from pulling away decidedly until a 4-1 push from the Lions triggered set point, and Grant Dvorak tucked the set to bed to put VU on the board.

Set 4 - Though Grant Dvorak grabbed attention with a crisp offhand finish, UC San Diego held the early set reigns once again. They forced both VU timeouts before the 10th point in the set and took control with their largest lead of the stanza at eight (16-8). The Lions shot back on a 10-3 run, starting with three Grant Dvorak kills and two service aces in a row.

Wiley contributed with a kill himself before flattening an ace to make it 20-18 UCSD. The Tritons aimed to weather the rush of service pressure, but momentum was on the home side. VU feasted on the attack after a sharp pickup by Henderson led to Nick Dvorak's kill on the overpass to push forward the comeback. The set was finished by two more Grant Dvorak aces in a row, as a high toss and drive across the net sent the game to five.

Set 5 -  VU's .385 hitting (7-2-13) was a team-high in set five, but ultimately the Tritons' trend of hot starts gave the visitors the cushion to walk away with the win.

Wiley whacked down an overpass for the Lions' first kill of the fifth. Henderson then kept the front row on watch with a dump to tie things up at 3-3. However, UCSD was first to the side switch at 8-4 and both teams committed service errors to creep the score up to 9-5 UCSD. The Tritons then forked over four attacking errors to help VU track an 8-3 push that eventually saw the deciding set tied at 13-13 off a Grant Dvorak shot down the line.  VU fell behind on a close call, with a handling error giving UCSD match point. The Tritons then converted through the middle to earn the win at the Freed.

What was Said?  "I'm really happy with the way this group played tonight and how we are improving daily.  It's definitely a journey," said Head Coach Brian Rofer.  "Our team is a highly competitive group, so it's not easy to allow ourselves grace when we make mistakes that are the necessary part of learning.  Our goal from the beginning was to get better every day and every competition to eventually be playing our best at the end of April.  We improved since our last competition with UCSD and that really what's important."

What's Next? Men's volleyball will head to Walter Pyramid to face #1 Long Beach State on Valentine's Day at 7 p.m.