The No. 5-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team swept past George Mason in a non-league match played on Saturday night in Pauley Pavilion to improve its home record this season to 11-1. Scores of the contest were 25-17, 25-13, 25-20.
UCLA, now 17-5 overall, hit .493 for the match and won the blocking battle at the net 10.0 to 2.0 against the Patriots, who lead the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. Jake Arnitz (.600) and Christian Hessenauer (.667) paced the attack with 10 kills apiece while Oliver Martin and Dylan Missry each added five block assists. George Mason, with a .123 effort, became the ninth Bruin opponent to hit .200 or less.
In set one, UCLA broke an 11-all tie with a mini-run run for a 16-13 lead after a Hessenauer tip for a kill. An ace from Hessenauer upped the margin to 18-14. Martin and Micah Ma'a teamed up for a block which resulted in a 20-15 lead. A couple of swings by Missry produced points 24 and 25 for a 25-17 win. UCLA hit .591 in the set with Martin and Hessenauer finishing with four kills each.
The Bruins moved to a 6-2 lead in set two. George Mason closed to 7-6, but UCLA then ran out to a 12-7 lead after two straight kills by Arnitz. Daenan Gyimah and Missry combined for a block to make it 20-10 to help complete a 6-0 run behind the serve of Ma'a. Arnitz delivered point 24, with an ace, and point 25, on a tip kill, for a 25-13 win. UCLA hit .706 for the set with just a single error on 17 swings.
The Patriots grabbed a 3-5 lead to open set three. UCLA pulled even at 6-all after a kill from Arnitz. Five of the next six points went the Bruins' way for an 11-7 advantage after a Missry/Ma'a/Martin block. UCLA led 16-10 after a Missry swing. A Gyimah kill made it 22-15. GMU closed to 24-20, before Arnitz sent the crowd home following his 10th kill of the night.
UCLA will return to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation league play next week with home matches on Wednesday and Friday nights in the Wooden Center against No. 14 Concordia and No. 13 Grand Canyon. First serve for both MPSF contests is at 7 p.m.