Jake ArnitzJake Arnitz
UCLA Athletics

Bruins Take Down Gauchos in Four Sets

Men's Volleyball

No. 4 MVB defeated No. 9 UCSB in four sets on Wednesday night.

Box Score

The No. 4 men's volleyball team rallied back after dropping the first set to defeat No. 9 UC Santa Barbara in four sets on Wednesday night in the John Wooden Center. Scores were 21-25, 25-22, 25-18, 25-18. Jake Arnitz led three Bruins in double digit kills with 13 and hit .385. As a team, the Bruins hit .125 in set one with eight errors and then over .385 the rest of the way with eight errors in the final three sets.

In set one, UCLA moved out to an 11-8 lead only to see the Gauchos score the next three points to even things up. After Arnitz tied the set at 13-all, UCSB gained momentum and took a 18-21 lead. The Bruins could not get closer and dropped the set 21-25. There were five Bruin service errors in the set.

UCLA went up 8-4 in set two after a kill by Arnitz. UCLA led all the way up to point 21 when UCSB tied the score on a service ace. Christian Hessenauer's cross court spike put the Bruins back in front to stay at 22-21. The Bruins won the set at 25-22 after kills by Micah Ma'a, Arnitz and a net violation. The Bruins hit .387 for the set.

In set three, UCLA grabbed the lead at 7-6 and upped the margin to 14-9 after a kill by JT Hatch. The Bruins were never threatened after that. A Mitch Stahl kill made it 24-17,  Hessenauer ended the set at 25-18. UCLA hit .435 to .143 for the Gauchos.

In set four, UCLA moved on to 10-6 after a Ma'a kill and made it 11-6 after the 39th ace of the season by Ma'a, which tied the school freshman mark set by Gonzalo Quiroga in 2011. Stahl and Arnitz teammed up on a block for a 14-8 advantage. Another kill by Ma'a made it 20-13 and a Stahl smash ended the match with UCLA winning the set 25-18. The Bruins hit an even .400 for the set.

Hatch (.207) and Ma'a (.550) each recorded 12 kills. Hatch added a pair of aces and eight digs. Ma'a had one ace and 24 set assists. Stahl (.429) finished with six kills, four block assists and an ace. Davis Gillett and Arnitz both had 10 digs.

The same two teams will be back on the court on Friday night at UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. UCLA will host No. 8 Ball State on Monday night in Pauley Pavilion.