The men's volleyball team picked up its 20th win of the season as the Cougars defeated the UC San Diego Tritons Tuesday night 30-27, 30-26, 23-30, 30-26.

"They played good, and we were mediocre," sophomore middle blocker Chris Gorny said. Gorny had 11 kills and led the team with six blocks. "We shot ourselves in the foot tonight, but luckily it was only the big toe."

The Cougars had swept the Tritons the last nine years before dropping a game to UCSD Tuesday night.

Both teams came out strong in the opening plays of game one, and fought out to a 5-5 tie. The Cougars' middle blockers led the team on a 6-1 run, before the Tritons called for a timeout.

UCSD closed the score to within two at 14-12, but that was as close as they would come in the game.

With the Cougars up 28-24, a couple Cougar errors brought the Tritons back into the game at 29-27, before UCSD senior setter Jordan Hove was called for a ball handling error, and the Cougars won the game 30-27.

The Tritons picked up the momentum in game two, as they led for the majority of the game. Early in the game, UCSD went on an 8-3 run to take a 10-5 lead.

Though the Cougars trailed most of the game, they were able to tie the score at 25 on a kill by senior outside hitter Joaquin Acosta. Acosta had 12 kills in the match on 25 attacks.

With BYU ahead 28-26, consecutive kills by junior middle blocker Rafael Paal and Acosta gave the Cougars the win.

Senior libero Mike Wilton said it was frustrating that the team did not play as well as they should have, but he also gave credit to the Tritons.

"They served great, had guys digging balls. They played their hearts out," Wilton said.

UCSD junior middle blocker Eric Perrine led the Tritons as they won game three. Perrine had 13 kills in the match, and supported sophomore opposite hitter Jim Waller, who led the team with 17 kills.

The Cougars and Tritons battled to a 15-15 tie, before Perrine put down one of his kills and gave his team a lead they would not relinquish. UCSD then outscored BYU 15-8 to win game three.

"They tried really hard, and we weren't really expecting it," Gorny said.

UCSD kept the momentum in their favor as they opened game four and took a 5-1 lead. BYU and San Diego battled in game four and kept the score close. Senior opposite hitter Mike Wall eventually gave the Cougars a two-point lead, which led to the teams 30-26 win. Wall led all players with 18 kills on the night.

The Cougars and Tritons face-off again tonight at 7 p.m. P.D.T.

Copyright Brigham Young University 9 Apr 2002