UCLA
UC Irvine
Bruins Defeat UC Irvine in Four
February 27, 2000 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 27, 2000
The sixth-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team defeated UC Irvine 3-1 Saturday in front of 486 fans at Crawford Gym.
The Bruins (13-3, 7-3) won 15-12, 15-8, 10-15, 15-3 in two hours and 15 minutes.
The victory allowed UCLA to keep pace with No. 3 BYU for third place in the MPSF Mountain Division race. BYU (13-3, 10-3) defeated San Diego State and UC San Diego over the weekend, and visits Pauley Pavilion Mar. 1 & 2 (7 p.m.) for a pair key conference showdowns with UCLA.
Senior Evan Thatcher and junior Mark Williams led the Bruins with 21 kills apiece against the Anteaters (6-10, 3-8), who lost their third straight match and fell to sixth place. Sophomore Matt Komer added 16 kills and senior Seth Burnham contributed 11 to an attack that hit 43.8%.
The Bruins also limited the Anteaters to a team attack percentage of 27.7%, although UCI's Erick Helenihi led all players with 26 kills and Ty Loomis added 24. The Bruins out-blocked the Anteaters 20.5-8.0 and were keyed by Thatcher and Burnham, who each blocked nine balls, and freshman Scott Morrow who added eight. Freshman setter Rich Nelson recorded 85 set assists and posted six block assists.
UCLA also entertains Lewis University on Sat., Mar. 4 at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
