Saturday, March 31
Los Angeles, CA
7:00 PM
UCLA
20-6, 7-3MPSF
2
at
3
USC
7-17, 3-7MPSF
1
2
3
4
5
F
UCLA
25
23
23
25
11
2
USC
18
25
25
19
15
3
Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA
MVB Falls in Five at USC
March 31, 2018 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 3 UCLA men's volleyball team dropped a five-set decision at USC in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) match played in the Galen Center on Saturday night. Scores of the contest were 25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 25-19, 11-15. UCLA (20-6, 7-3) had a five-match win streak snapped despite outhitting the Trojans .392 to .275 and receiving a career-high 22 kills from senior Christian Hessenauer. It was the first match this season in which the Bruins did not win a contest in which they outhit the opponent. UCLA, which now owns a 6-5 road record this season, will return home next week where they have achieved a 14-1 mark to close out the regular season with MPSF matches against Stanford (Thursday) and BYU (Saturday) in Pauley Pavilion.
In set one, the Bruins surged to a 9-3 advantage, thanks to a 4-0 serving run by Daenan Gyimah and a pair of blocks by Oliver Martin and Christian Hessenauer. UCLA led 12-7 after a kill by Dylan Missry and built the margin up to 19-11 on a kill by Martin. The gap grew to 22-12 after another Missry kill. USC battled back to 23-17, but the Bruins captured the set after a Trojan service error and attack error. UCLA outhit USC .381 to .097 for the set.
UCLA moved out to the early in the second set and enjoyed a 7-3 advantage after an ace from Gyimah. The Trojans registered the next three points to make it 7-6 and then evened the score at 8-all on a Bruin rotation error. USC secured its first lead of the set at 10-11 on a block. The score was tied at points 11 thru 15 before USC put three kills together for a 15-18 edge. A service ace put USC up 16-20 and completed a 1-5 run. The Bruins narrowed the gap to 19-21 on an ace by Missry. UCLA sliced the deficit to 22-23 on a Martin kill. A kill by Arnitz fought off one set point and made it 23-24, but the Trojans won the set on a kill at 23-25. USC hit .444 for the set. Hessenauer led UCLA with six kills in the set.
In set three, USC broke a 4-all tie with three straight points to go up 4-7. After UCLA closed to 8-10 on a Missry kill, the Trojans rattled off two straight for an 8-12 advantage forcing a Bruin timeout. A couple of Hessenauer kills brought the Bruins to within 12-14. Trojan errors and a Gyimah/Missry block evened the score at 16-all. A Gyimah kill put UCLA up 18-17. The score was then tied at points 18 thru 20. The next two points went to the Trojans and the Bruins called their final timeout. UCLA came back to level the score at 23, but a kill and a lift call on a set attempt made it 23-25 for the Trojans. USC hit .387 for the set. Hessenauer had seven kills to lead the Bruin attack.
The Bruins established a 7-2 edge to begin set four. Arnitz and Hessenauer contributed a couple of kills each. Another Arnitz blast made it 9-4. USC narrowed the gap to 10-8 and 16-14 with a couple of three-point runs. The Bruins mounted their own three-point run culminating on Hessenauer 20th kill of the match to take a 19-14 lead. After two Arnitz swings, UCLA led 22-15 and the Bruin senior had tied his season best with 13 kills. USC scored four in a row to move to within 23-19. A USC error and a block by Arnitz / Gyimah sent the match to a fifth set at 25-19. The Bruins hit .536 in set four with USC at .161.
USC grabbed a 1-3 lead to begin the final set. UCLA battled back to even the score at 4-all and then went up 5-4 on a block by Ma'a and Martin. The score was then tied at points 5 and 6 before the Trojans went up 6-8 after three straight kills. A Trojan block made it 7-10 for the home team and UCLA called timeout. After a Hessenauer kill the scoreboard showed 8-11, but was followed by a service error. A kill by the Trojans and a Bruin attack error resulted in a 9-14 advantage. A Trojan error saved one match point and an Arnitz / Martin block saved another at 11-14. A USC kill ended the match at 11-15.
The Bruins enter the final week of play trailing BYU (9-1) in the league standings with two to play. The league champion will receive a bye into the MPSF Semifinals and play host to both the semifinals and the championship match. Seeds two, three and four will host quarterfinal matches in the MPSF Playoffs on Apr. 14.
Team Stats
UCLA
USC
Kills
63
60
Errors
15
23
Attempts
125
136
Hitting %
.384
.272
Points
78.5
73.0
Assists
61
57
Aces
6
5
Blocks
9.5
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills
22
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
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