No. 19 Princeton Falls to UCSD, 3-1

Monday, March 10

La Jolla, Calif.

10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT

Princeton University

6-7,1-1EIVA

UC San Diego

15-4,1-0Big West

Princeton

UC San Diego

March 11, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

LA JOLLA, CA. – The no. 19 Princeton men's volleyball team fell 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 14-25, 19-25) to no. 13 UC San Diego on Monday night in California, beginning the team's three-match trip to the West Coast.

Mason Rice led the Tigers with 18 kills, combined with six errors on 35 attempts for a solid .343 hitting percentage.

Henry Wedbush led the Tigers with 28 assists, while defensively, Roan Alviar led the Tigers with seven digs. Nyherowo Omene also tallied five digs and a team-high 2.5 total blocks on the night.

With the win, Princeton falls to 6-7, while UCSD improves to 15-4 on the season.

How It Happened
In the first set, the Tigers came out strong with Omene registering three kills in the first five points, putting Princeton up 4-1. Three consecutive attack errors, including one caused by a huge block from Omene and Tristan Whitfield, helped Princeton to another 4-0 run to extend and maintain the lead to 12-8.

Continuing to be efficient on offense, more Tigers stepped up, with Rice contributing three throughout the set and Ryan Vena notching two. Closing in on set point, the Tritons continued to make errors, with a service error and two more attack errors as Whitfield, Rice and Omene came up with another big block. An ace from Wedbush and another Triton service error called the set in the Tigers favor, 25-19, putting Princeton up 1-0.

In the second set, however, the Tigers held onto a narrow lead throughout the majority of the set, hovering around two points above the Tritons before UCSD was able to tie the set at 18-18. Going back and forth, Omene came up with a kill to tie it again at 20-20. UCSD continued to score, and despite some clutch late kills from Rice which kept Princeton in it, the Tigers dropped the set 23-25.

Set three saw UCSD build up an early lead and run as the Tigers struggled to match their pace. Omene and Owen Mellon each registered four kills, but the Tigers could not match the Tritons' performance and the set went to UCSD, 14-25.

Princeton looked to tie the match up in set four, with Rice registering six kills in the set alone. Still, despite the set being a close battle with three lead changes and four ties, the Tigers could not hold on and the set ended 19-25 UCSD, handing the Tritons the victory 3-1.

Of Note

Princeton out-blocked UCSD 16 to 12.
The Tritons scored 10 aces to the Tigers' two.

Up Next
Princeton will remain in California for two more matches this week, first with no. 7 CSUN on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PST, and no. 1 Long Beach State on Saturday at 7 p.m. PST.