UCLA
Laval (Exh.)
Men's Volleyball Blanks Laval
January 06, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
The fifth-ranked men's volleyball team warmed up for its season opener, this Friday, with a sweep of Canadian collegiate team Laval University. Scores of the exhibition match played on Monday night in the John Wooden Center were 25-22, 25-20, 25-19.
Sophomore hitter Jake Reeves paced UCLA with 11 kills, while hitting .688 on the match. Freshman hitter Jake Arnitz added 10 kills and setter Hagen Smith totaled 34 assists and six digs.
In set one, Trent Kersten's solo block handed UCLA an early 5-3 edge. An Oliver Martin kill pushed the Bruins to a 14-13 advantage in the closely contested set. Martin and Kersten teammed up on a block to give UCLA its first three-point lead at 20-17. A Reeves kill made it 23-21. After Laval moved to within 23-22, kills by Arnitz and Smith closed out the visitors. There were eight ties and three lead changes during the set.
Laval took the early lead in set two. UCLA managed to grab its first lead, at 13-12, on a Martin kill. After Kersten and Smith combined on a block, the Bruins enjoyed a 19-15 margin. A Mitch Stahl and Arnitz block made it 24-20 and the set belonged to UCLA following a Laval serving error. The Bruins hit .522 in the set.
UCLA took a 7-6 lead in set three on an Eric Sprague kill and pushed the advantage up to 13-10 following a kill by Stahl. Christian Hessenauer's swing made it 17-12. UCLA opened up a 21-14 gap following a block by Arnitz and Sprague and then went on to take the match 25-19. The Bruins hit at a .407 clip in set three.
Libero Jackson Bantle had five digs. Kersten finished with five blocks. UCLA outhit Laval .367 to .195 on the night.
The Bruins begin the regular season in the UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational on Friday morning with a match against St. Francis, PA. at 10 a.m. That evening, UCLA will battle IPFW at 7 p.m. On Saturday, UCLA faces off with Limestone from Conference Carolinas at 4 p.m. The first home match of the regular season comes up on Jan. 25 against Princeton.
