Rematch Set for Sunday at UC Irvine - UC San Diego (2024)

THE ESSENTIALS
---Match 17: Big West---
• #18UC San Diego (7-9, 1-1) at#5 UC Irvine(11-4, 1-0)
• Sunday/ March 3/ 6 p.m. Pacific
• Crawford Hall/ Irvine, Calif. (map)
• Tickets
• ESPN+
•Live Stats
• Twitter / Instagram

ABOUT THE UC SAN DIEGO TRITONS
Roster||Statistics
• Location: La Jolla, Calif.
• Conference: Big West
• Overall: 7-9
• Big West: 1-1
• Home: 3-4
• Away: 0-4
• Neutral: 4-1
• Streak: 1 loss
• Against nationally-ranked teams: 3-6
•AVCAnational ranking: 18
• Big West Preseason Poll: Tie for 5th of 6

ABOUT THE UC IRVINE ANTEATERS
Roster|Schedule & Results|Statistics
• Location: Irvine, Calif.
• Conference: Big West
• Overall: 11-4
• Big West: 010
• Home: 5-2
• Away: 6-2
• Neutral: 0-0
• Streak: 5wins
• AVCAnational ranking: 5
• Big WestPreseason Poll: 3rd of 6

TRITONS V ANTEATERS: SERIES HISTORY
• All-Time: UCI leads 55-15
• Last Meeting: 3/1/24 (UCI wins 3-0 in La Jolla)
• First Meeting: 2/10/89 (UCI wins 3-2)
• Last UC San DiegoWin: 3/26/22 (3-2 in Irvine)
• Streak:UCI 4wins

CLICK IT FOR TICKETS
Single match and season tickets for all home contests insideLionTree Arenaare now on sale! Please visit the Triton Box Office to purchase.

GOT YA COVERED
All home matches (and most away matches) will be broadcast live on ESPN+ ($)and you can also follow with live stats (free). Direct links are available on the team's schedule page.

FOUR ON THE FLOOR
Prior to Friday's loss against UC Irvine, UC San Diego wasriding a four-match win streak after defeating Central State (2/15), Edward Waters (2/16), UC Santa Barbara (2/23), and Charleston (2/28). The Tritons'last four-match win streak came in 2022 between Feb. 11-19. It included back-to-back road victories at No. 11 BYU. The first match in Provo was the program's first-ever win against the Cougars.

SCHELLINGERSELECTED AS BIG WEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Triton junior Josh Schellinger was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Week Monday. In UC San Diego's conference opener last week, a 3-1 win against UC Santa Barbara in La Jolla, Schellinger finished with a career-high seven blocks (1 solo) to go along with eightdigs, sixkills, and a service ace. All in all, he accounted for 11 points.In 2023, Schellinger was named the Big West Freshman of the Week four times en route to earning Big West All-Freshman Team accolades.

DYER MAKER
Junior setter Gabriel Dyer returned to the court on Feb. 16 against Edward Waters. It was his first match ofthe season after missing the previous 12 due to injury. The last time he had played was on Dec. 30 in a scrimmage against Calgary. In his return vs. EWU, Dyer had 24 assistsand set the Tritons to a .493 attack percentage in a three-set victory. He also added two blocks and seven digs. Last Friday against Big West opponent UC Santa Barbara, Dyer amassed 38 assists and a match-high 12 digs. The Tritons hit .402 in the3-1 win.

LOUD CROWD PROUD
On Jan. 26, 2024, LionTree Arena hosted a UC San Diego Volleyball record2,474 fans for itsmatch against UCLA.The Tritons have drawn a crowd of at least 1,000 sixtimes (2,474 1/26/24 vs. UCLA; 1,689 3/2/13 vs. BYU;1,648 1/25/19 vs. UCLA; 1,505 2/9/22 vs. UCLA;1,069 4/16/22 vs. UC Santa Barbara; 1,012 3/5/11 vs. Stanford).

BIG WEST STANDINGS (through 3/2)

2024 UC SAN DIEGO ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Starters Returning (4)
• Gabriel Dyer (JR, S/OPP)
• Jim Garrison (SO, MB)
• Nick Rigo (SR, MB)
• Josh Schellinger (SO, OH)

Starters Lost (2)
• Ryan Ka (OH)
• Berkeley Miesfeld (OPP)

Primary LiberosReturning (1)
• Evan Boyle (SO)

Others Returning (10)
• Andrew Boyle (SR, S)
• Josh Ewert (SO, OH)
• Matthew Lim (JR, OH)
• Leo Pravednikov (SO, OH)
• Brett Pursley (SO, OH)
• Michael Robertson (SO, OPP)
• Peter Selcho (SO, MB)
• Paya Vatanshenas (JR, L)
• Sam Warren (JR, OH)
• Cameron Wurl (SO, S)

ACE FREELY
On Jan. 31 against USC in La Jolla, Anthony Cherfan floored six service aces. That number is tied for the most aces in a single match by any Triton during the team's NCAA DI/II era (since 2001).The last Triton to do it was Chris Sayers vs. Stanford on April 14, 2006.

WIEMELT HONORED AS THE BIG WEST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Leo Wiemeltwas tabbed the Big West Men's Volleyball Freshman of the Week on Jan. 19. A true freshman, Wiemelt hit .556 and totaled 16.5 points, 12 kills, 5 blocks, 5 digs, and 2 aces over two matches to help the Tritons earnback-to-back sweeps at LBSU's Big West/SIAC Crossover. Against Central State, Wiemeltset new career-highs with 9.5 points, 7 kills, 2 aces, and 4 digs. He hit .875 (7-0-9) in that match. The next day against Edward Waters, the middle blockerlogged a career-high 4 blocks to go along with 5 kills and a dig. He hit .300 (5-2-10) in that sweep.

SELCHONAMED BIG WEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Peter Selcho was named the first Big West Men's Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week on Jan. 8. A sophom*ore middle blocker, Selcho was a force at the net, helping the Tritons post a 2-1 record atUC Santa Barbara'sseason-opening Asics Invitational. Named to the all-tournament team, Selcho recorded a team-high 19 total blocks (1.6/set) and hit .306(17-6-36) over the three matches. His biggest outingwas in a 3-2 win against NJIT. Selcho establishedcareer-highs with 12 blocks, eight kills, 14 points, and two digs. He also posted a solid.538 (8-1-13) attack percentage. Two days prior, Selcho kicked off his 2024 season with eight kills in a 3-1 win over 20th-ranked George Mason. He swung at a .429 clip in that contest.

MATTHEW LIM MAKESALL-TOURNEY TEAM IN SANTA BARBARA
Junior outside Matthew Lim was named to the all-tournament team at UC Santa Barbara'sAsics Invitational. Over three matches, he averaged 3.4 points/set and 2.7 kills/set while hitting .308 to help the Tritons post a 2-1 record. He started with 11 kills in a win over No. 20 George Mason, followed with nine kills in a loss to No. 7 Grand Canyon, and finished with 10 in a win over NJIT. He also added six blocks, six digs, andfour aces.

THE LAST TIME UC SAN DIEGO ...

AVCA NATIONAL POLL(2/26)
1. Grand Canyon
2. Long Beach State
3. Hawai'i
4. UCLA
5. UC Irvine
6. BYU
7. Ohio State
8. Stanford
9. Penn State
10. Pepperdine
11. USC
12. Ball State
13. Loyola Chicago
14. Lewis
15. Princeton
16. CSUN
17. George Mason
18. UC San Diego
19. Lincoln Memorial
20. Daemen

Receiving votes: UC Santa Barbara, Concordia, Purdue Fort Wayne, Lindenwood

BIG RANKINGS FOR THE BIG WEST
Five of six Big Westteams can be found in the latest AVCATop 20National Poll.
2. Long Beach State
3. Hawai'i
5. UC Irvine
16. CSUN
18. UC San Diego

UC SAN DIEGO IN THE 2024AVCA NATIONAL POLL
Week 8 (2/26): 18
Week 7 (2/19): T-20
Week 6 (2/12): 20
Week 5 (2/5): 19
Week 4 (1/29): 19
Week 3 (1/22): 20
Week 2 (1/15): T-18
Week 1 (1/10): 17
Preseason (1/3): Receiving votes

2024BIG WEST PRESEASON POLL
1. Long Beach State (23 points, 3 first-place votes)
2. Hawai'i(21 points, 2 first-place votes)
3. UC Irvine (19 points, 1 first-place vote)
4. UC Santa Barbara (11 points)
T-5. CSUN (8 points)
T-5. UC San Diego (8 points)

HEAD COACH BRAD ROSTRATTER
Brad Rostratter enters his second season leading UC San Diego in 2024. He was named head coach of the men's volleyball program on October 7, 2022. Rostratter earned his first career win with the Tritons on Jan. 5, 2023, when the team defeated Lincoln Memorial in five sets at UC Santa Barbara's Asics Invitational. It was the team's season opener. Rostratter collected his first Big West victory on the road at CSUNwhen the Tritons swept the Matadors on March 16. A National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)Coach of the Year and two-time Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC)Coach of the Year, Rostrattercame to La Jolla from Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, Calif., where he served as the men's volleyball head coach since the program's inception in 2019. He led the Lions to a pair of GSACregular seasontitles, a league tournament title, and two appearances at the NAIA National Tournament. Complete Rostratter Bio

2024 AWARD WINNERS
• Josh Schellinger: Big West Defensive Player of the Week (2/26)
• Leo Wiemelt: Big West Freshman of the Week (2/19)
• Peter Selcho: Big West Defensive Player of the Week (1/8),Asics Invitational All-Tournament Team (1/6)
• Matthew Lim: Asics Invitational All-Tournament Team (1/6)

2023 AWARD WINNERS
• Evan Boyle: Big WestAll-Freshman Team, Big West Defensive Player of the Week (3/6), Big West Freshman of the Week (1/9)
• Josh Ewert: Big West All-Freshman Team
• Jim Garrison: Big West All-Freshman Team, Big West Freshman of the Week (4/10)
• Josh Schellinger: Big West All-Freshman Team, Four-time Big West Freshman of the Week (4/17, 2/27, 2/20, 1/23), Off the Block Offensive Player of the Night (1/18)
• Peter Selcho: Off the Block Defensive Player of the Night (1/17)

UP NEXT
Next week, UC San Diego plays just one match whenit hosts Saint Katherine on Wed., March 6, at 7 p.m. The Firebirds are an NAIA team out of San Marcos in San Diego's North County. Tickets for all home matches are available through the Triton Box Office.

BE SOCIAL!
UC San Diego Athletics on Facebook(UCSDtritons)
UC San Diego Athletics on Instagram(UCSDtritons)
UC San Diego Athletics on Twitter(@UCSDtritons)
UC San Diego Men's Volleyball on Instagram(UCSDmvb)
UC San Diego Men's Volleyball on Twitter(@UCSDmvb)

FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out theJunior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!

GEAR HERE
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories, visit the official team store of the Tritonshere.

WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.

NCAA MEN'S VOLLEYBALL LANDSCAPE
The NCAA combines Division I and Division II teams into a single national championship (National Collegiate Championship), while Division III squads have a stand-alone championship (NCAA Division III National Championship). There are 61 Division I and Division II teams combined, with 53 of those making up eight conferences. Another eight institutions are independent.

Big West(6)
CSUN(DI)
Hawai'i (DI)
Long Beach State (DI)
UC Irvine (DI)
UC San Diego (DI)
UC Santa Barbara (DI)

Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (6)
Charleston (WV) (DII)
George Mason (DI)
Harvard (DI)
NJIT (DI)
Penn State (DI)
Princeton (DI)

Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (9)
Ball State (DI)
Lewis (DII)
Lindenwood (DI)
Loyola Chicago (DI)
McKendree (DII)
Ohio State (DI)
Purdue Fort Wayne (DI)
Queens University of Charlotte (DI)
Quincy (DII)

About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successfulprograms inNCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program has begun a new era asamemberof The Big West inNCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time inDivisionsIIand III and helped guide1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have garnered prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.For more information on the Tritons, visitUCSDtritons.comor follow UC San Diego Athletics on social media@UCSDtritons.