UCLA
UC San Diego
Bruins Take Tritons in Three
February 14, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 2-ranked men's volleyball swept past UC San Diego in an MPSF match played on Saturday night in the John Wooden Center. Scores of the match were 25-16, 25-17, 25-18. UCLA is now 12-2 on the season and 9-2 in MPSF play. The Bruins hit .521 for the match and were led by JT Hatch and Jake Arnitz who each totaled 11 kills.
In set one, UCLA broke a 4-all tie with six of the next seven points. Hatch recorded a block and a kill in that sequence. After a couple of aces by Hatch, UCLA led 13-6 and expanded the advantage to 21-11 following an Arnitz blast. A service error gave the Bruins set point in a 25-16 decision.
In the second set, UCLA opened up a 11-5 margin. Hatch had three kills in the that stretch and his career-high third ace of the match. The edge was 18-11 after an Eric Sprague kill and the Bruins took the set after another swing by Sprague for a 25-17 win. UCLA hit .609 for the set.
In the third set, the score was even at points 8,9 and 10. UCLA took the lead at 11-10 on a kill by John Zappia and went up 12-10 after Zappia combined with Hagen Smith on a block. Kills by Sprague gave UCLA leads of 18-13 and 22-17. Jake Reeves put away two balls down the stretch and the Bruins came away with a 25-18 win. For the set, UCLA hit .600.
Smith led the Bruins with 11 digs and added three block assists. Sprague totaled four kills (.800) and a block assist. Micah Ma'a registered 22 set assists and an ace. Davis Gillet had nine digs and a kill.
UCLA will play at No. 8 Pepperdine next Friday night (7 p.m.) and then travel to play at No. 6 Stanford on Sunday morning (11 am on Pac-12 Networks). The Bruins return home to face Cal Baptist on Feb. 24 in Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m.
