Dylan MissryDylan Missry
Don Liebig/ASUCLA

Dylan Missry had seven kills while hitting .455 for the match.

MVB Advances to MPSF Semifinals

Men's Volleyball

Bruins advance to the MPSF semifinals next Thursday.

Opens in a new window UCLA MVB Stats Opens in a new window Box Score (pdf)
Box Score

The No. 2 seeded UCLA men's volleyball team defeated No. 7 seed Stanford in straight sets in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Quarterfinal match played on Saturday night in Pauley Pavilion. Scores were 25-19, 25-15, 25-18.
 
The Bruins, now 23-6 on the year, will advance to the MPSF semifinals to be held on April 19 at BYU. UCLA will play No. 4 seed Concordia which defeated Grand Canyon in three sets (3:30 pm PT). No. 6 seed USC, which defeated Pepperdine in four sets, will play No. 1 seed BYU in the other semifinal (6 pm PT).The MPSF championship match, which determines the winner of the league's at-large bid to the NCAA Championship, will be held on April 21 in Provo (6 pm PT).
 
UCLA outhit the Cardinal .389 to .057 (an opponent season-low) for the match and controlled the nets with a 14.0 to 3.0 advantage in total team blocks. Christian Hessenauer led a balanced attack with eight kills (.385). Daenan Gyimah had a block solo and five block assists while hitting .500. Oliver Martin added a solo and four block assists.
 
The Bruins jumped out to a 7-3 lead in set one after a block by Gyimah / Hessenauer. Stanford closed to 14-12 after a Bruin error, but UCLA scored the next two points. An ace from Jake Arnitz extended the margin to 18-13. Stanford cut the gap to 20-16 after a service error. A Gyimah kill pushed the score to 24-18 and Martin's kill handed UCLA the set at 25-19. The Bruins hit .524.
 
In set two, UCLA used a 5-1 run after the score was tied at 7-all to take control. Dylan Missry had a couple of kills and a block to spark the attack during the stretch. At 16-12, UCLA threw up a wall at the net and blocked the next five Stanford attacks for points and a 21-12 lead. Martin had a hand in all five blocks, including a solo block. A kill by Missry pushed the Bruins to set point at 24-15 and a Micah Ma'a ace ended it at 25-15. UCLA registered 7.5 total team blocks for the set.
 
In set three, the Bruins ran off four straight points to break an 8-all tie, taking advantage of a series of Cardinal errors and a Missry kill. Stanford cut the margin to 17-14, but UCLA responded with three of the next four points for a 20-15 edge. A Gyimah / Missry block made it 22-15. Sam Kobrine's swing put UCLA up 24-17 and a block from Hessenauer / Arnitz / Gyimah closed out the match at 25-18.