Men's volleyball splits two games in San Diego

A holiday road trip to San Diego this weekend was hit-and-miss for the Cal State Long Beach men's volleyball team, which fell to No. 9 in the USA Today/ACVA Coaches poll.

The weekend's first winning battle against San Diego State on Friday could not sustain enough momentum to push the 49ers to victory against UC San Diego. The UCSD Tritons won Saturday's five-game match 15-9, 11-15, 11-15, 15-2, 12-15.

CSULB out-hit the Tritons by fifty points and out-blocked them 40-26, but the 49ers could not pull back a lead in game five. "Anything can happen in a rally score," 49er Coach Ray Ratelle said. "We just couldn't catch them."

Ratelle said it hurt to lose to UCSD, which beat USC last Wednesday, and also said his team had no excuses for the loss.

Team injuries may have exhausted the 49ers' efforts. Ed Ratledge, whose performance has been exceptionally strong this season, is playing with a pulled groin muscle. Ratledge hit a depressing .294 against UCSD.

Ryan Mariano's injured ankle, which he suffered in a game against University of Pacific, seems to still be holding him back. Mariano's return this weekend produced only eight kills.

Ratelle said he will be looking at different players for this Friday's match at UCLA. The match begins at 7 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion.