UCLA
9-3, 6-2MPSF
BYU
9-2, 4-1MPSF
MVB Falls in Straight Sets at BYU
February 04, 2017 | Men's Volleyball
No. 2-ranked UCLA was swept by No. 4 BYU on night two of MPSF action between the two rivals in Provo, Utah on Saturday. Scores of the match, played before a crowd of over 4,500 fans, were 25-13, 25-23, 31-29. Senior Hagen Smith led the Bruin attack with 10 kills and a .438 hitting percentage. BYU out hit the Bruins .420 to .198 for the contest and also won the blocking battle 6.5 to 1.0. UCLA falls to 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the MPSF. Next up is a league match on Thursday at No. 7 Stanford.
The Cougars stormed out to a 1-7 lead to begin set one. The Bruins closed to 4-10 on a kill by Smith but had no real answers in a 13-25 loss. UCLA hit just -.160 for the set. BYU, which hit over .400 in each set, registered a .450 hitting percentage in this one.
In set two, it was more of the same from the Cougars as they established leads of 6-11 and 10-16. Eric Sprague came off the bench to spark the Bruins with a kill to close to within 15-19. A JT Hatch swing made it 16-21 and Smith followed with a kill for a 17-21 score. Micah Ma'a then served the Bruins to four straight points, two coming on service aces, and UCLA pulled even at 21-all on a kill by Michael Fisher. The score was tied at 22 on a kill by Daenan Gyimah. BYU tallied the next two points before their service error made it 23-24. However, the Bruins returned the favor and the bad serve gave BYU the set at 23-25. UCLA hit .367 for the set, but made 7 service errors.
The Bruins came out strong in set three and enjoyed leads of 8-5 and 11-7. A Sprague kill made it 14-11. A series of errors left the Bruins with a 19-14 edge. BYU slowly climbed back into the set and closed to 22-20. A Cougar service error lifted UCLA into a 23-20 lead, but the home squad answered with three straight points. A Gyimah kill gave UCLA the first of what would be five set points down the stretch. Two kills by Hatch and one by Sprague left UCLA with set point opportunities on which they could not cash in at 26-25, 28-27 and 29-28. BYU ended the match on a block for a 29-31 win. The Bruins hit .323 for the set.
Fisher finished with seven kills and hit .385. Sprague, in his first action of the season, added five kills (.375). Jackson Bantle and Ma'a totaled five digs each. UCLA played without starters Jake Arnitz and Mitch Stahl who each sat out the match due to injury for the second straight night.
