The top-ranked men's volleyball team (10-0, 6-0) rallied for a four-set victory over #12 CSUN (7-2, 2-2) in a Friday night MPSF match played in Pauley Pavilion. Scores of the match were 20-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-19. UCLA is now 10-0 on the season and off to its best start since the 1998 squad opened with 16 straight wins.
Sophomore Jake Arnitz hammered out a career-best 21 kills (23.5 points) on the night to lead the Bruins to victory. Freshman Micah Ma'a added a career-best seven aces and added 23 set assists and four block assists.
UCLA was out aced (9-8) for only the second time this season by the Matadors, who got off to a great start by hitting .522 while winning the first set. The Bruins only lead of the set came at 3-2 at CSUN gradually pulled away after the score had been even at 12-all.
In set two, UCLA moved out to a 10-7 advantage only to see CSUN battle back to take a 13-12 lead. The Bruins went up 18-16 after a kill by Mitch Stahl, but the Matadors answered with the next two points. An Arnitz kill put UCLA up 24-20, but CSUN fought off three set points and the Bruins came away with a 25-23 win.
Set three was a back-and-forth affair with 17 ties and nine lead changes. CSUN led 16-19 before a Stahl kill helped ignite a Bruin rally. The score was then even at points 20, 21, and 22 before UCLA went up 24-22. The Matadors came back to tie the score at 24 and then went up 24-25. UCLA tied the score at 25 on a block by Michael Fisher and Oliver Martin. Arnitz then terminated the set with a pair of kills.
In the fourth set, UCLA broke a 10-all tie with a string of eight straight points. The Bruins enjoyed a 24-14 edge after a block by Ma'a, Arnitz and Martin. CSUN battled through five set points, but a Ma'a kill ended the match and handed UCLA a 25-19 set win.
Hagen Smith led the Bruins with nine digs and added eight kills. Stahl finished with five kills and four block assits. Martin totaled five kills and five block assists. Fisher came off the bench for four kills, five digs and three block assists.
The Bruins will take to the road next week with a trip to fifth-ranked Hawai'i for a pair of MPSF matches on Friday and Saturday nights (9 p.m. PT).