Wednesday, March 28
Los Angeles, CA
7:00 PM
UCLA
20-5
3
vs
0
UC Santa Barbara
9-8
1
2
3
F
UC Santa Barbara
22
15
18
0
UCLA
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA
MVB Blanks Gauchos in Three Sets
March 28, 2018 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 3-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team won its fifth straight match in a sweep of No. 11-ranked UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday night in Pauley Pavilion. Scores of the contest were 25-22, 25-15, 25-18. Christian Hessenauer led a balanced attack with 11 kills. UCLA outhit the Gauchos on the night .446 to an opponent season-low .099. The Bruins also owned the nets 10.5 total blocks to 3.0. UCLA improves its overall record to 20-5 on the season and its mark in home matches to 14-1.
In set one, UCSB spurted out to a 3-6 lead and forced an early Bruin timeout. UCLA answered with a 3-0 run, highlighted by a kill and ace from Jake Arnitz to even the score at 8-all. After the Gauchos regained the lead with a 14-17 advantage, the Bruins scrambled to recover and leveled the score at 20-each on an ace from Dylan Missry. When Daenan Gyimah and Hessenauer followed with a block, UCLA had its first lead since 10-9. The Bruins grabbed a 23-21 edge after a service error and took a 24-22 lead on another Arnitz swing. Micah Ma'a and Oliver Martin teamed up for a block to end the set at 25-22. UCLA hit .526.
The Bruins ran out to a 7-1 lead to begin set two. The Gauchos rallied to close to 13-12. Two kills by Missry and the tough serve of Ma'a ignited an eight-point run by the Bruins for a 21-12 margin. Ma'a tallied a couple of aces in the stretch and Arnitz added a service ace as well. Hessenauer ended the set, at 25-15, with another ace.
In set three, UCLA opened up an 8-3 lead. UCSB narrowed the gap to 12-10. The Bruins rallied back with three straight and led 15-10 after Hessenauer, Gyimah and Arnitz combined for a block. An Arnitz kill made it 18-12. Missry's kill resulted in a 21-14 lead and the Bruins brought home the win after a Gaucho service error for a 25-18 verdict.
Ma'a was credited with four aces on the night and moved into ninth on the single-season list with 42 on the year. Arnitz continued his hot hitting (.443 over the last five matches) with eight kills and a .500 hitting percentage to go with a block solo and two block assists. Gyimah finished with a match-high seven block assists. JT Hatch led UCLA with eight digs. UCSB was the 10th opponent which UCLA has held under a .200 hitting percentage this season. The Bruins hit at least .400 in a match for the 10th time this season.
UCLA will return to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with a match at USC on Saturday in the Galen Center at 7 p.m. Next week, the Bruins host Stanford on Thursday and first-place BYU on Saturday in Pauley to close out the regular season.
Team Stats
UCSB
UCLA
Kills
29
36
Errors
21
7
Attempts
81
65
Hitting %
.099
.446
Points
37.0
54.5
Assists
25
33
Aces
5
8
Blocks
3.0
10.5
Game Leaders
Kills
11
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
7
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's Volleyball
Opp
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
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