Tritons Swept in Match & for 2009 Season

Block Leads No. 2 UC Irvine to Sweep of No. 12 UC San Diego
Anteaters out-block Tritons 15.5-2

Feb. 25, 2009

Final Stats


LaJolla, Calif. – Second-ranked UC Irvine out-blocked No. 12 UC San Diego, 15.5 to 2 on their way to a 3-0 (30-25, 30-28, 30-24) victory at the RIMAC Arena Wednesday.

UCI (13-3, 9-2) dominated the net and held the Tritons (6-9, 2-8) to a .144 hitting percentage. The Anteaters, who hit .418, had the best blocking margin (13.5) of the year.

UCI led 6-5 in the first set then scored three straight on two Triton miscues and a kill by Taylor Wilson to go up 9-5. The Anteaters continued to lead, 20-14 only to watch UCSD score five unanswered to close within 20-19. A kill by Austin D’Amore stopped the streak and the Anteaters outscored the Tritons 10-6 to end the set, 30-25 on a Cory Yoder kill. Jon Steller led all players with eight kills, hitting .800 (8-0-10).

With the teams tied at 13 all in the second set, UCI used a kill by Jordan DuFault followed by three consecutive blocks by DuFault and Kevin Wynne to take the 17-13 advantage. The Tritons were down 20-16 and rallied on a 6-2
run to tie the set at 22-22. The teams would trade points until a kill by Steller was followed by a block by Jordan DuFault to give the Anteaters a 25-23 cushion. San Diego rallied once more to knot the score at 27-27. Another Yoder kill was followed by a UCSD attack error, 29-27. A kill by Jason Spangler delayed set point until Steller recorded a kill, 30-28.

In the third set UCI jumped out to an 8-2 lead which included two kills, a block and a service ace by D’Amore. UC San Diego could get no closer than two the rest of the way as UCI took the set 30-24 and the match 3-0.

Jon Steller led the Anteaters with 12 kills, hitting .600 without an attack error (12-0-20) from the right side. Jordan DuFault hit .615 (9-1-13), recording nine kills and a career-high nine total blocks, including a career high eight block assists. Outside hitter Cory Yoder recorded nine kills, while setter Ryan Ammerman tallied 39 set assists. Middle blockers Kevin Wynne and Austin D’Amore owned the net with seven and six blocks, respectively. D’Amore had six kills while Wynne totaled four. Libero Brent Asuka had a match-best eight digs.

Frank Fritsch had 11 kills while Will Ehrman added 10 for the Tritons. Phil Bannan recorded 39 set assists and shared the team lead in digs with six along with Eric Lesserman.

UCI returns home to host No. 6 Long Beach State Friday (Feb. 27) at 7:00p.m. in the Bren Events Center.