UCLA
UC Irvine
Bruins Close Out Pauley with a 3-0 Victory over the Anteaters
March 24, 2011 | Men's Volleyball
March 24, 2011
Los Angeles, CA -
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The 7th ranked UCLA men's volleyball team closed out Pauley Pavilion in style by sweeping the UC Irvine Anteaters 3-0.
The Bruins improved to 14-9 (7-8 MPSF) on the year and increased their winning streak to six matches, while the UC Irvine Anteaters fell to 12-11 (9-8 MPSF). Game scores were 25-20, 26-24, and 25-21.
This was also the final match in historic Pauley Pavilion before interior renovations take place. The facility will be closed until the fall of 2012 and the Bruins' final three home matches will be played at the John Wooden Center on the UCLA campus. Head Coach Al Scates talked a little bit about the atmosphere at the final game at the old Pauley.
"It was great for all of our alumni to show up," Scates said. "Some of these guys drove up from San Diego and some flew in from Seattle so it was really great to see these guys come back for the last game in the original Pauley."
In the match, junior Jeremy Casebeer led the Bruins with 10 kills and contributed 6 digs in the victory. Fellow junior Kyle Caldwell and freshman Gonzalo Quiroga were right behind him 8 kills apiece and 6 and 5 digs respectively. Junior Weston Dunlap added 7 kills and 4 block assists to lead the team with 11.0 points. Finally, senior Tom Hastings, playing in his final match at Pauley Pavilion, had a game-high 7 digs.
"We played well," said Scates about the match. "That's a good team over there. They're ranked 5th nationally, just two ahead of us in league, so this really goes a long way to making sure that we're in the playoffs."
Overall, the Bruins hit .279 as a team while holding the Anteaters to just .183. Carson Clark led UC Irvine with 12 kills.
UCLA's next match will be Saturday, March 26th, against the UC San Diego Tritons at 7:00 p.m PT at RIMAC Arena in San Diego. The two sides met earlier this season at the Santa Barbara Invitational with the Bruins defeating the Tritons 3-1.
