UCLA
7-1, 5-0
UC Santa Barbara
6-2, 3-2
MVB Earns Fifth Straight Win By Blanking UCSB
January 25, 2017 | Men's Volleyball
The No.2-ranked men's volleyball team rolled to its fifth straight win to open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play in a straight-set victory over No.11 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday night in Pauley Pavilion. Scores of the contest were 25-17, 25-20, 25-20. Junior Jake Arnitz led a balanced UCLA attack with 10 kills and hit .368. Senior Mitch Stahl added six kills (.600), three aces and three blocks. The Bruins outhit the Gauchos .344 to .195 on the night. The same two teams will battle again on Friday night in Santa Barbara at the Thunderdome. UCLA will return home to host Princeton on Sunday evening at 8 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
Consecutive kills and then a block by Stahl pushed UCLA into a 9-5 lead and helped the Bruins separate from UCSB in set one. The Bruins held a 16-8 edge following an ace by JT Hatch. A Gaucho service error handed the set to UCLA 25-17. UCLA hit .379 for the set.
Stahl led off set two with an ace and UCLA quickly moved to a 4-1 lead. UCSB stormed back and took a 6-10 advantage after running off six straight points. An ace by Micah Ma'a evened the score at 14-all. UCLA grabbed a 16-14 lead on kills by Daenan Gyimah and Arnitz. UCSB rallied to even the score at 19s. Kills by Ma'a and later by Hatch helped open up a lead and UCLA took the set on a triple block by Hatch, Ma'a and Gyiman at 25-20. The Bruins hit .357 for the set.
The service of Stahl started UCLA on its way again in set three as he staked the Bruins to a 5-0 lead. The Bruins enjoyed margins of 12-5, after a Hatch kill, and 15-10, on a Arnitz attack. UCSB came back to within four, at 22-18, but a couple of Arnitz kills dashed any hopes of a comeback and the Bruins won 25-20.
Stahl's three aces place him in a tie for second, with 99, on the all-time rally scoring era school list (from 2001-present) behind only Gonzalo Quiroga, 2011-14, who finished his career with 194. He is tied for eighth on the all-time career list. The senior's three blocks moved him past Chris Pena (2001-04) and Steve Klosterman (2004-07) into fifth place on the all-time rally scoring total blocks list (293).
UCLA won the team blocking battle 7.5 to 4.0 with Ma'a and Gyiman tied for the lead with four blocks each. Jackson Bantle topped the team with nine digs. Hagen Smith had four kills and 15 set assists. Hatch finished with six kills and eight digs.
The Bruins are now 7-1 on the season and 5-0 in MPSF action. Coach John Speraw was not on the UCLA sidelines for the match due to the birth of his daughter.
