UCLA
9-4, 6-3MPSF
Stanford
7-4, 4-2MPSF
MVB Trimmed in Five Sets by Stanford
February 09, 2017 | Men's Volleyball
No. 4-ranked UCLA was dealt a five-set decision by No. 8 Stanford in an MPSF match played on Thursday night in Maples Pavilion. Scores of the match were 27-29, 27-25, 25-23, 27-29, 11-15. UCLA is now 9-4 on the season and 6-3 in league action. The Cardinal out hit UCLA .356 to .333 for the match. The Bruins had 29 service errors for the contest to 25 by Stanford. UCLA was led by JT Hatch's 19 kills. UCLA will swing back into action on Saturday night at No. 9 Pepperdine.
In set five, the Bruins moved out to leads of 5-3, after a Dylan Missry kill, and 6-4 following a Hatch spike. Stanford tallied the next two points to even the set at 6-all. Hagen Smith put UCLA up 7-6, but a Bruin service error and a net violation gave the Cardinal a 7-8 advantage at the changeover. The Bruins would never regain the lead. Stanford held a 10-12 edge when a Hatch kill pulled UCLA to within one at 11-12. However, the Cardinal scored the next three points to take the match.
In set four, UCLA held late leads of 21-20, after an Oliver Martin kill, and 22-21, on a Smith kill. The score was then tied at 23-all on a kill by Mitch Stahl. A service error gave the Cardinal a look at set point. Kills by Hatch then tied the score at points 24 and 25. Smith's kills saved a third set point and leveled the score at 26. After the teams traded service errors, the Cardinal were up 27-28. A Bruin hitting error ended the set.
In set three, UCLA enjoyed the biggest margin, of three points, at 17-14 after a block by Smith and Martin. Stanford closed to tie the score at 18. The score was then even at points 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23. A Cardinal error and a block by Smith and Stahl gave the set to UCLA.
The Bruins moved to a 15-11 lead in set two on a block by Stahl. Stanford slowly whittled away at the gap until tying the score at 24. UCLA went up 25-24 on a service error, but the Cardinal countered to tie it up. Martin's kill put UCLA up one and Missry delivered the deciding swing for a 27-25 win.
In set one, UCLA enjoyed leads of 10-5 and 17-12. After Stanford cut the advantage to 20-19, Daenan Gyimah answered with a kill for a 21-19 edge. A Missry / Gyimah block made it 22-20. After fending off two Bruin set point attempts, Stanford rallied to even the score at 24-all. The Bruins then had to fight off three set points for the Cardinal. Clutch kills from Hatch and Smith kept the Bruins alive. However, a service error and a Cardinal block ended the set.
Hatch's 19 kills were a season-high total. Missry matched his career-high for kills, set last week at BYU, with 13. Smith registered a third straight double-digit kill effort, tying his career-best with 12 kills, while hitting .429. He also added a season-high five block assists. Stahl totaled nine kills and hit .750. Micah Ma'a had 31 set assists and nine digs. Jackson Bantle also recorded nine digs. Martin finished with five kills and five block assists. UCLA out blocked the Cardinal 9.5 to 8.5. Each team had three aces in the match.
