Although UC San Diego’s 2-9 conference record isn’t all that menacing, the parity in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation this season should make any men’s volleyball team in the conference worried. And No. 5 UCLA is very concerned with the Tritons despite the fact that they are 11th out of 12 teams in the league.
UCLA (10-8, 8-7 MPSF) is looking to keep its record with UCSD spotless, as the team has 44 wins and no losses against the Tritons. Tonight, UCLA hopes to avoid an upset and extend the streak to 45.
The Tritons’ 5-11 overall and 2-9 MPSF records are deceiving, however. Their two conference wins have come against teams that defeated the Bruins. In January, UCSD defeated USC in four games, and just last week squeaked out a five-gamer over Long Beach State, whom UCLA most recently lost to in five Wednesday.
“They’re low in the standings as usual, but they beat Long Beach and USC,” UCLA coach Al Scates said. “They’re a good team and they have some good players.”
The MPSF is renowned for its equality of players throughout the conference, and it is exceptionally more uniform this season. Teams lingering in the middle of the pack are even more unpredictable, namely UCLA, Pacific, USC, Long Beach and even UCSD. It is virtually impossible to predict who will win on a given night.
“There are so many good teams this year because there are so many great high school players in the area,” Scates said. “There are so many talented players it’s unbelievable.”
UCSD’s three most talented players this season have come in the form of three true freshmen. (The Tritons’ entire roster consists of all freshmen and sophomores save for a lone junior and senior.)
Jason Spangler, an outside hitter out of Thousand Oaks, leads the Triton attack with 3.60 kills per game. Fellow classman Will Ehrman, an outside from Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, adds 3.46 a game. Rounding out the Tritons’ top guns is middle blocker Frank Fritsch of Los Gatos who chips in 3.07 a game.
UCSD TO GET EVEN BETTER: In the beginning of February, the UCSD campus voted to improve athletic funding and provide athletic scholarships for the first time in school history. Men’s volleyball is allowed to give out 4.5 scholarships, and soon the Tritons will get a shot at Southern California’s top prospects.
“They were able to recruit a good group of players without the scholarships, but now they’ll get some blue-chippers, too,” said Scates, who believes the passing of the referendum will allow UCSD to become even more competitive than it already is this season.
PROMOTIONS:The first 250 fans at tonight’s match will receive a UCLA men’s volleyball team photo card.
Tonight is also Public Safety Night, in which public safety and law enforcement personnel can present their badge or ID at the main gate of Pauley Pavilion and receive four complimentary admissions.