The top-ranked men's volleyball team dropped its first match of the season, in four sets, at fifth-ranked Hawai'i in an MPSF battle on Friday night. Scores of the contest were 18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18. Hawai'i, now 9-1 and 4-1 on the year, captured its 17th straight home court win while leaving UCLA with 10-1, 6-1 records.
In set one, UCLA broke a 4-all tie with four straight points, taking an 8-4 lead after an ace by Oliver Martin. The Bruins built the margin up to 12-6 and led 14-8 following an ace by Michael Fisher. Hagen Smith's kill lifted the Bruins into a 16-10 advantage. UH cut the edge to 18-14, but could get no closer and UCLA went on to take a 25-18 decision on a Micah Ma'a kill. Hawai'i hit just .050 in the set.
The home team opened up a 1-4 lead to begin set two. UCLA tied it at 4-all on a kill by Jake Arnitz and went ahead 7-6 following another Arnitz kill. The score was then even at points 9, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16. UH registered the next two points to take a 16-18 lead and kept the momentum to post a 20-25 win. The Bruins managed to hit just .103 for the set to .348 for the Rainbow Warriors.
In set three, Hawai'i jumped out to a 2-4 lead. UCLA tied it at 8-all and took a 9-8 lead after a Ma'a ace. The score was then level at 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. The Bruins tallied two straight points to earn a 17-15 lead after a Fisher kill. UH tied it at 17, but UCLA again scored two straight for a 19-17 lead with Dylan Missry, Smith and Stahl teaming up for a block. The score was then tied at 19, 20, 22 and 23 before a couple of Bruin attack errors left the set to UH at 23-25. The Bruins hit .154, while UH hit .371 for the set.
The Warriors moved to a 5-7 advantage in set four. UCLA closed to 8-9 after a kill by Stahl, but UH answered with four of the next five points to lead 9-13. The Bruins were able to get within one at 17-18 on a Ma'a kill, but Hawaii ended the match by scoring seven of the next eight points. The Bruins hit .086 for the set to UH's .312.
For the match, Hawai'i outhit the Bruins .273 to .138 (season-low) and won the battle of the block 13.0 to 9.5. Ma'a led UCLA with nine kills, eight digs and two blocks. Smith finished with seven kills, six digs and four blocks. Stahl had five kills and five block assists.
The same two teams will take the court again on Saturday night at 9 p.m. PT. UCLA returns home next Thursday evening to host UC Irvine.