The No. 4-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team opened play in the John Wooden Volleyball Classic on Friday night with a 3-0 win over King University from Tennessee, last year's co-champion of the Conference Carolinas. Scores of the match were 25-17, 25-16, 25-11. The Bruins connected on 13 service aces during the match, two-shy of the school record mark, and hit .403 as a team to improve their record to 2-0 on the season.

Seniors JT Hatch (.571 and 10 digs) and Jake Arnitz (.400) led a balanced attack for the Bruins with eight kills each. Micah Ma'a and Daenan Gyimah led the way from the service line with four and three aces, respectively. Gyimah matched his career-high in the category while adding seven kills. Ma'a had 30 set assists. Dylan Missry added seven kills (.545) and a pair of aces. Freshmen Ian Parish, with two kills and a block, and Garland Peed, with three digs, saw their first action as Bruins.

Missry helped get UCLA off to a good start with five kills and a couple of aces in set one. UCLA broke a 4-all tie and moved out to a 12-8 advantage after a kill by Oliver Martin. The Bruins led 15-10 following a swing by Arnitz. A series of King errors handed UCLA the deciding points down the stretch for a 25-17 win.

In set two, King jumped to a 2-5 advantage. UCLA came back to even the score at 7-all on a kill by Christian Hessenauer. The Bruins pulled out to a 15-11 lead after some tough serving from Arnitz. An ace by Martin made it 17-11 and Hatch's deep hit handed the Bruins the win at 25-16.

UCLA moved out to a 10-3 lead in set three after some big swings by Hatch. A couple of aces down the stretch by Hessenauer helped the Bruins gain a 25-11 decision. UCLA hit .440 for the set.

The Wooden Men's Volleyball Classic continues with a full day of action on Saturday when UCLA will play McKendree University at 7:30 p.m. The first match of the day features King vs. McKendree at 10 a.m. UC San Diego and King will square off at 5 p.m. All matches are in the Wooden Center and there is no admission charge.