USC
*at UC San Diego
Men's Volleyball Tops No. 13 UC San Diego
March 05, 2004 | Men's Volleyball
March 4, 2004
The USC men's volleyball team won its third straight match on Thursday night, downing 13th-ranked host UC San Diego at RIMAC Arena in four games to snap a two-match losing skid against the Tritons. Game scores were 28-30, 30-28, 30-24, 30-20.
For the second year in a row, the Trojans won in La Jolla despite dropping the first game. UCSD had defeated USC in back-to-back meetings in Los Angeles on March 12, 2003, and earlier this season on January 17, 2004.
The visitors appeared to have game one under control, ahead 24-20 late after a close early portion of the frame. The Tritons fought back, however, scoring four straight points to knot it at 24-24. At 26-26, UCSD scored the next three points to get it to game point. Although the Trojans moved to within one at 29-28, the home side closed it out on a kill by senior opposite Jim Waller.
In game two, it was time for the Tritons to look like they were in the driver's seat, as they ran out to a five-point advantage at 17-12, and looked poised to take a commanding 2-0 lead in games at 19-14. The Trojans quickly got back in the game, going on a 5-0 run to take a 24-22 lead, with junior outside hitter Pedro Leal serving four of the points. Two came on service aces that hit the top of the net and trickled over and down. Another pair came on stuff blocks, with 6-10 junior middle Chris McKniff and sophomore outside hitter Joao Grangeiro in on both. USC went on another run of four straight points to get it to 28-23, and evened the match on a kill by Grangeiro on game point.
Game three was tied at 13-13 when USC scored eight of the next 11 points to take a five-point lead at 21-16. Though the Tritons got within two points on several occasions, USC held them off the rest of the way.
The Trojans scored the first two points of the fourth frame, and never trailed, going on a 4-0 run for a 21-14 advantage and cruising to the 30-20 game defeat and 3-1 match victory.
Junior outside hitter Blake Tippett shared match-high honors with 19 kills to go with nine digs. Grangeiro finished with 16 kills on a match-high .429 hitting (16-4-28). He also had a match-high 14 digs and four block assists. Junior middle Jeff Bailey, out of Francis Parker High School in San Diego, was also in double digits with 13 kills. He added eight total blocks. Freshman Gio Altamura replaced junior J.T. Gilmour (14 assists) at setter in the second game and dished out 42 assists over the remainder of the match. Leal came up with five kills, eight digs, three blocks and a match-high four service aces.
For UCSD, Waller put down 19 kills to compliment six digs and six blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Jeff Urton and senior middle blocker Kevin Keyser contributed 15 and 11 kills, respectively, with Keyser adding a match-high nine total blocks. Junior libero Dickens Tai produced a team-high nine digs.
The win improves USC's record to 6-12 overall, 4-7 in the MPSF. In losing its fourth straight match, UCSD falls to 6-12 overall, 2-10 in conference play. The Tritons' No. 13 national ranking is an all-time high for them in the Division I-II Poll.
UCSD continues a four-match homestand this Saturday night, hosting No. 5 Peppderine. First serve at RIMAC Arena is set for 7:00 PM.
