The Tritons hit the ground slamming over the first weekend of winter quarter by heading up to the city of Las Vegas to compete against the Mountain West Volleyball Conference. In this tournament, the Tritons were able to compete against teams that they generally only see at Nationals, aside from Air Force, who appears at the Davis Far Westerns and Las Vegas Classic each year.
The first day commenced with pool play at 5 PM on Friday, and did not come to a close until nearly midnight. In that pool, the gentlemen of UC Slam Diego crushed each opponent that they faced without much difficulty, including Utah Valley who continuously qualifies and competes in D1 during Nationals. Luckily for the Tritons, the second day of play did not start until 1 PM, allowing a full-night’s sleep. The first round of playoffs pitted UC Slam Diego against UNLV. The Rebels put up a good fight, but the match ended in the Tritons’ favor, propelling them into the semifinals. In this match, the Tritons faced Rick’s College, an extension of BYU located in Idaho who had been stomping all of their opponents throughout the tournament. Despite this, UC Slam Diego brutally beat them in the first game, and then started way down in the second game, only to make a 15-2 run and beat them in 2 games. In the finals, UC Slam Diego faced Air Force and unfortunately played their worst match of the tournament (great timing gentlemen) handing them their only game and match loss of the weekend.
Next, the Tritons host their first League Tournament on Saturday, February 4th in RIMAC AUX Gym.
