UCLA
USC
Road Woes Continue: Bruins Fall in Four to Trojans
February 20, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 20, 2009
Eighth-ranked UCLA lost its second straight conference road match this week, falling in four games to arch-rival USC at the Galen Center.
USC won 30-23, 28-30, 30-27, 30-18 in one hour and 52 minutes in front of 1,200 fans. The Trojans improved to 10-3 overall and 7-2 in MPSF play after recording their third consecutive victory over the Bruins. UCLA fell to 7-8, 4-5. The Bruins suffered their fifth loss in six road matches.
After the two teams split the first two sets, the match turned in the Trojans' favor in Game 3. With the Bruins leading 13-8, USC rallied to tie the set at 14-14 on a kill by Austin Vaughn and an attack error by UCLA's Nick Vogel. Three straight blocks by Vaughn, Sean Dennis and Tony Ciarelli gave USC a 17-14 lead. The Bruins rallied to tie the game at 20-20 when freshman Thomas Amberg converted a kill, setter Matt Wade served an ace and USC's Tri Bourne hit long. The teams traded points until the Bruins cracked at 26-26. Senior Sean O'Malley committed a pair of hitting errors and junior Kent Kraushaar was blocked for a three-point USC lead. A service error by Dennis gave UCLA the serve, but the Bruins lost the set on a service error by senior D.J. Stromath.
In the fourth set, the Bruins hit -.067 and committed five service errors. Although USC committed six service errors, it hit .480.
The Trojans won this game at the net, out-blocking the Bruins 16.5-5.0. The Bruins committed 26 service errors and 34 hitting errors.
Amberg was the only UCLA player to hit better than 30%, recording 15 kills and five total blocks. Jack Polales added 10 kills, an ace and one block assist.
Ciarelli led USC with 15 kills (.387) and Murphy Troy added 13.
The Bruins host Long Beach State on Wed., Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
