The second-ranked Bruins dropped a five-set decision to No. 12 UC Irvine on Thursday night in Pauley Pavilion. Scores of the match were 17-25, 25-18, 23-25, 26-24, 18-20. UCLA drops to 11-2 on the year and 7-2 in MPSF play. UCI outhit the Bruins .315 to .252 on the night.
In the deciding fifth set, UCI jumped out to a 5-9 advantage. UCLA fought back to get within one on a Micha Ma'a ace off the tape at 10-11 and tied it up at 13-all on a block by Mitch Stahl. The Anteaters then scored and forced UCLA to withstand four match points before falling 18-20. JT Hatch hit off hands to tie it at 14-all and then hit off the block to level the score at 15. A Stahl kill to the corner gave UCLA a match point, but the Anteaters tied it up at 16. After UCI went up 16-17, Stahl evened the score at 17 with another kill. Jake Arnitz hit off hands to tie it up at 18-all to save a fourth set point.
UCLA fell behind 8-11 in set one, came back to tie the score at 12 only to see the Anteaters run off a streak of six out of seven points to stake out a 16-21 lead on the way to a 17-25 verdict. The Bruins hit .000 for the set with 10 errors. UCI outblocked the Bruins 5.0 to 1.0 and hit .615.
In set two, the Bruins stormed out to an 11-5 advantage. After a couple of kills and an ace by Arnitz, UCLA enjoyed a 14-6 lead. Christian Hessenauer, who started the set, made several key plays to lift UCLA into a 18-11 edge. The Anteaters found their footing and rallied to within 18-16, but Hessenauer answered with a kill off the block for a 20-18 margin. Two blocks by Stahl helped separate the Bruins down the stretch and UCLA won 25-18 after Dylan Missry put away an overpass.
In the third set, UCLA fell behind 1-5 before rallying to even the score at 8-all on a three-man block by Ma'a, Stahl and Arnitz. A Hessenauer kill tied the score at 12, but UCI scored the next three points. UCLA came back to take a 20-19 lead after a kill by Stahl, but UCI broke a 23-all tie with the set's final two points.
In set four, Hagen Smith reentered the match and teammed with Stahl to help the Bruins prevail 26-24. Smith's dump kill handed UCLA a 20-17 lead, UCI came back to tied it up at 21. The score was even at 22, 23 and 24 before a Stahl kill and a Smith-Stahl block sent the match to a fifth set.
Arnitz led UCLA with 14 kills (.258). Hatch finished with a season-best 13 kills (.241). Stahl recorded seven block assists and two solos to go along with nine kills (.400). Oliver Martin had eight kills (.462) and four block assists. Ma's finished with nine kills (.080) and six block assists. Hessenauer registered a season-best six kills (.250) and added two block assists.
UCLA will host UC San Diego on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the Wooden Center. Tickets will be available at the door.