Pepperdine University
UC San Diego
Men's Volleyball Loses Heartbreaker at UCSD
4/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Pepperdine-UC San Diego Box Score 
LA JOLLA, Calif. - The #3 Pepperdine men's volleyball team lost a golden opportunity to secure one of the top seeds in the upcoming Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament, as the Waves dropped a heartbreaker in five games at #14 UC San Diego (28-30, 30-27, 19-30, 30-27, 15-12) in the regular-season finale on Saturday night.
A win would have given Pepperdine the #2 seed, but the loss drops the Waves (16-9, 14-8) into the #5 seed and sends them onto the road and a first-round match at Hawaii next Saturday (April 24).
Junior outside hitter Cory Riecks (Auburn, Calif./Placer HS) had a career-high 25 kills for the second straight match. Senior outside hitter J.D. Schleppenbach (Ventura, Calif./Ventura HS) had 15 kills, senior middle blocker Rodnei Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil/BYU) had 13 and freshman opposite Maurice Torres (Riverside, Calif./Orange Lutheran HS) added 12.
The Tritons (11-19, 6-16), who were led by Frank Fritsch's 25 kills, swept the season series in winning their first two matches ever against Pepperdine. The Waves actually outhit the Tritons, .404 to .323. UCSD was led by Frank Fritsch's 25 kills.
At 26-26 in the first game, Riecks got a kill, and then Schleppenbach and junior middle blocker Tyler Jaynes (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay HS) had a block to put Pepperdine ahead to stay. The first game ended on a kill by Torres. In the second game, the Waves were up 17-16 but the Tritons scored four straight points and held on from there to even the match at 1-1. An 8-2 Pepperdine run in the third game pushed the Waves' lead to 18-10, helping them to an easy win and a 2-1 advantage. Tied 21-21 in the fourth game, UCSD scored three straight points and the Waves couldn't catch up. In the fifth game, UCSD scored three straight to take an early 5-2 lead and Pepperdine couldn't get any closer than two points the rest of the way.
