UCLA
10-7, 7-6
UC Irvine
10-5, 7-4
MVB Rally Falls Short in 5 Set Loss at UCI
February 24, 2017 | Men's Volleyball
No. 6-ranked UCLA fell in five tough sets to No. 7 UC Irvine in an MPSF match played on Friday night in Irvine. Scores of the match were 23-25, 26-28, 25-22, 25-21, 15-17. The Bruins were led by junior Christian Hessenauer who came off the bench to record a season-high 16 kills while hitting .355. UCLA outhit UC Irvine .354 to .344, out aced them 9-8 and won the blocking battle 12.5 to 4.0 but saw their record drop to 10-7 overall and 7-6 in league action. Next up is a league match at UC San Diego on Saturday night.
In the deciding set, UCI moved out to a 1-4 lead, forcing an early Bruin timeout. UCLA came right back to even the score at 5-all after a spike by Jake Arnitz, who finished with 13 kills. A series of service errors handed the Anteaters a 7-8 advantage at the court change. UCI held leads at 8-10 and 11-13 before the Bruins fought their way back into it. A block by Hessenauer, Oliver Martin and Micah Ma'a made it 12-13. A Dylan Missry swing made it 13-all. Hessenauer's ace took the Bruins to match point but an error evened it up at 14. Irvine then took a 14-15 lead on an ace, but followed it up with a service error. UCI then struck for two straight points to finish off the Bruins.
Neither team led by more than two points in set one. The score was tied at points 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. UCLA took a 20-19 lead on an error. UCI came back with the next two points. Missry tied it up at 21-all and then UCLA grabbed a 22-21 edge following a block by Arnitz, Ma'a and Martin. After three straight errors, Irvine went up 22-24. Arnitz saved one set point with a smash, but the Anteaters prevailed after a service error.
In set two, UCLA broke away to take an 11-8 lead on a block by Ma'a and Daenan Gyimah. Irvine came back to tie it up at 14-all. The score was then back and forth until a Missry kill put the Bruins up 23-21. UCI rebounded to even the score at 24-all, saving a set point in the process. A Martin kill tied the score at 25-all and a Hessenauer kill made it 26-all. Irvine once again had the late answers and took the set on an ace.
In set three, UCLA went down 2-5, but responded to take a 7-6 lead after a block by Ma'a and Martin. The Bruins went up 12-8 following a kill by Ma'a. UCI closed to 16-14 before the Bruins answered with a run to take a 22-17 lead after a Gyimah kill. A couple of Hessenauer kills down the stretch pushed UCLA over the top and to a 25-22 win. The Bruins hit .667 for the set, with just one error.
In set four, the Bruins rolled to a 10-3 advantage. UCI slowly worked back into the set to trail 20-18 after tallying five straight points. Hessenauer's kill lifted UCLA into a 22-18 lead. He added another spike for a 23-19 edge. The Bruins then captured the set after a service error after hitting .520.
Missry joined Hessenauer and Arnitz in double digits kills, with 11, while hitting .318. Gyimah (.500) and Martin (.750) each finished with seven kills and five blocks. Ma'a totaled 42 set assists. Davis Gillett added seven digs.
