John Speraw's UCLA men's volleyball team won both matches on Saturday at the Bruin SAC Fall Invitational posting victories over UC Santa Barbara and USC in the SAC (Student Activities Gym) on campus.
The Bruins opened morning play with a 3-1 win over UC Santa Barbara. Scores of that match were 25-22, 26-28, 25-20, 25-18. Senior hitter Michael Fisher led the way with 16 kills. Senior Mitch Stahl and junior Christian Hessenauer added 10 kills each. Senior Jackson Bantle totaled five aces and Stahl had three.
In the afternoon match, the Bruins swept USC by scores of 25-14, 25-19, 25-18. Junior JT Hatch, with 10 kills, and freshman Daenan "Kofi" Gyimah, with nine kills, led UCLA. Each player added two service aces. Senior Hagen Smith added a couple of aces.
In the other tournament matches played on Saturday, CSUN d. USC 25-18, 25-22, 25-13. UCSB d. CSUN 25-23, 25-17, 25-19.
The 2017 regular season begins on the road for the Bruins, who advanced to the NCAA semifinals a year ago, with matches at two-time national champion Loyola-Chicago on Jan. 3 and in the Pac-12/BigTen Challenge in Columbus, Ohio against Penn State on Friday, Jan. 6 and versus defending national champ Ohio State on Saturday, Jan. 7. A contest against UC Irvine on Thursday, Jan. 12 kicks off a 14-match home schedule. It is the first of five straight home matches to start league play, with UC San Diego due in on Jan. 14, Cal Baptist on Jan. 18, USC on Jan. 20 and UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 25.
The Bruins opened morning play with a 3-1 win over UC Santa Barbara. Scores of that match were 25-22, 26-28, 25-20, 25-18. Senior hitter Michael Fisher led the way with 16 kills. Senior Mitch Stahl and junior Christian Hessenauer added 10 kills each. Senior Jackson Bantle totaled five aces and Stahl had three.
In the afternoon match, the Bruins swept USC by scores of 25-14, 25-19, 25-18. Junior JT Hatch, with 10 kills, and freshman Daenan "Kofi" Gyimah, with nine kills, led UCLA. Each player added two service aces. Senior Hagen Smith added a couple of aces.
In the other tournament matches played on Saturday, CSUN d. USC 25-18, 25-22, 25-13. UCSB d. CSUN 25-23, 25-17, 25-19.
The 2017 regular season begins on the road for the Bruins, who advanced to the NCAA semifinals a year ago, with matches at two-time national champion Loyola-Chicago on Jan. 3 and in the Pac-12/BigTen Challenge in Columbus, Ohio against Penn State on Friday, Jan. 6 and versus defending national champ Ohio State on Saturday, Jan. 7. A contest against UC Irvine on Thursday, Jan. 12 kicks off a 14-match home schedule. It is the first of five straight home matches to start league play, with UC San Diego due in on Jan. 14, Cal Baptist on Jan. 18, USC on Jan. 20 and UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 25.