Sunday, March 31
Los Angeles, CA
2:00 PM
UCLA
17-7, 7-3
3
vs
1
Grand Canyon
12-14, 2-8
1
2
3
4
F
Grand Canyon
18
25
23
22
1
UCLA
25
19
25
25
3
Micah Ma'a became UCLA's all-time best at the service line.
Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA
MVB Tops GCU; Ma'a Sets Record
March 31, 2019 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 5 UCLA men's volleyball team snapped a three-match losing skein with a four-set win over Grand Canyon in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match played on Sunday afternoon in the Wooden Center.
Senior setter / hitter Micah Ma'a led the way for UCLA with a team-high 17 kills and a season-best six service aces. With the aces, Ma'a became the all-time aces leader at UCLA (198), moving past Gonzalo Quiroga (2011-14). Scores of the match were 25-18, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22. UCLA improves to 17-7 overall and 7-3 in the MPSF and tied with Pepperdine for the top spot in the league with two matches left to play. The Waves own the tie breaker over UCLA should the two teams both finish with the same league record.
The Bruins blew out to a 7-2 lead to begin the match behind the strong service game of Ma'a and Daenan Gyimah who each recorded aces during the stretch. GCU came back to narrow the margin to 8-6, but the Bruins quickly built the lead back up and enjoyed a 13-9 advantage after a second ace from Ma'a. A Gyimah swing made it 19-12 and a Dylan Missry kill left UCLA in charge 23-14. The same pair produced points 24 and 25 and UCLA grabbed a 25-18 win after hitting .517 for the set. Missry and Gyimah finished with five kills each in the frame.
GCU copied the Bruins' formula to begin set two and stormed to a 2-7 lead. UCLA used a three-point run – service error, Gyimah kill and Maleski block – to narrow the gap to 11-14. However, the Antelopes came right back to score five of the next seven points to take control on the way to a 19-25 win. UCLA hit .122 with seven errors in the set.
Grand Canyon opened up set three with a 1-4 lead. UCLA caught the Antelopes at six while taking advantage of a series of errors. GCU scored the next three to go back up by 6-9. UCLA battled back and leveled the score at 10 on a Gyimah / Matt Younggren block. An ace by Ma'a, the record-setter, lifted UCLA into a 12-11 lead. Neither team could break away in the near term and the score was tied at points 13, 14, 18, and 19. GCU put two points together for a 19-21 advantage. UCLA tied it up on a couple of Ma'a kills and went ahead on the fourth ace of the day by the senior. A couple of GCU errors provided the winning points in a 25-23 UCLA win.
UCLA went up 4-1 to begin set four and led 7-3 following a Gyimah ace. GCU fought back to get within one at 14-13 and then tied the score at points 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. A couple of Gyimah kills in the midst of a four-point run pushed the Bruins in front 23-19. The Antelopes cut it to 21-23 before UCLA answered with a Gyimah / Maleski block to take it to set point which came on a GCU error.
UCLA outhit GCU .282 to .180, while holding the Antelopes under .200 in sets one, three and four. Gyimah had 16 kills, two aces and three block assists from his position at opposite. The Bruins registered eight aces to six for the Antelopes and also won the blocking battle 9.0 to 8.0. Maleski topped UCLA with five blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs. Younggren finished with four blocks. Adam Parks recorded 40 set assists and a career-best 12 digs. Ma'a improved his season total in aces to 57, one shy of the school record of 58 he set in the 2016 season.
The Bruins will host Concordia on Thursday night in Pauley Pavilion, presented by Wescom, in the final home regular season match of the campaign before heading across town to battle USC on Saturday night. The MPSF standings heading into the final week of play are listed below. The top seed will receive a first-round bye in the MPSF tournament and then host the semifinal and final rounds. The winner of the MPSF Tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
MPSF Standings (3/31)
Pepperdine 7-3
UCLA 7-3
USC 6-4
BYU 6-5
Stanford 5-6
Concordia 3-7
Grand Canyon 2-8
Final Week MPSF Schedule
Thursday, April 4
BYU at Grand Canyon 6:00 pm
USC at Pepperdine 7:00 pm
Concordia at UCLA 7:00 pm
Saturday, April 6
Concordia at Pepperdine 5:00 pm
Stanford at Grand Canyon 6:00 pm
UCLA at USC 7:00 pm (Pac-12 Network TV)
Senior setter / hitter Micah Ma'a led the way for UCLA with a team-high 17 kills and a season-best six service aces. With the aces, Ma'a became the all-time aces leader at UCLA (198), moving past Gonzalo Quiroga (2011-14). Scores of the match were 25-18, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22. UCLA improves to 17-7 overall and 7-3 in the MPSF and tied with Pepperdine for the top spot in the league with two matches left to play. The Waves own the tie breaker over UCLA should the two teams both finish with the same league record.
The Bruins blew out to a 7-2 lead to begin the match behind the strong service game of Ma'a and Daenan Gyimah who each recorded aces during the stretch. GCU came back to narrow the margin to 8-6, but the Bruins quickly built the lead back up and enjoyed a 13-9 advantage after a second ace from Ma'a. A Gyimah swing made it 19-12 and a Dylan Missry kill left UCLA in charge 23-14. The same pair produced points 24 and 25 and UCLA grabbed a 25-18 win after hitting .517 for the set. Missry and Gyimah finished with five kills each in the frame.
GCU copied the Bruins' formula to begin set two and stormed to a 2-7 lead. UCLA used a three-point run – service error, Gyimah kill and Maleski block – to narrow the gap to 11-14. However, the Antelopes came right back to score five of the next seven points to take control on the way to a 19-25 win. UCLA hit .122 with seven errors in the set.
Grand Canyon opened up set three with a 1-4 lead. UCLA caught the Antelopes at six while taking advantage of a series of errors. GCU scored the next three to go back up by 6-9. UCLA battled back and leveled the score at 10 on a Gyimah / Matt Younggren block. An ace by Ma'a, the record-setter, lifted UCLA into a 12-11 lead. Neither team could break away in the near term and the score was tied at points 13, 14, 18, and 19. GCU put two points together for a 19-21 advantage. UCLA tied it up on a couple of Ma'a kills and went ahead on the fourth ace of the day by the senior. A couple of GCU errors provided the winning points in a 25-23 UCLA win.
UCLA went up 4-1 to begin set four and led 7-3 following a Gyimah ace. GCU fought back to get within one at 14-13 and then tied the score at points 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. A couple of Gyimah kills in the midst of a four-point run pushed the Bruins in front 23-19. The Antelopes cut it to 21-23 before UCLA answered with a Gyimah / Maleski block to take it to set point which came on a GCU error.
UCLA outhit GCU .282 to .180, while holding the Antelopes under .200 in sets one, three and four. Gyimah had 16 kills, two aces and three block assists from his position at opposite. The Bruins registered eight aces to six for the Antelopes and also won the blocking battle 9.0 to 8.0. Maleski topped UCLA with five blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs. Younggren finished with four blocks. Adam Parks recorded 40 set assists and a career-best 12 digs. Ma'a improved his season total in aces to 57, one shy of the school record of 58 he set in the 2016 season.
The Bruins will host Concordia on Thursday night in Pauley Pavilion, presented by Wescom, in the final home regular season match of the campaign before heading across town to battle USC on Saturday night. The MPSF standings heading into the final week of play are listed below. The top seed will receive a first-round bye in the MPSF tournament and then host the semifinal and final rounds. The winner of the MPSF Tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
MPSF Standings (3/31)
Pepperdine 7-3
UCLA 7-3
USC 6-4
BYU 6-5
Stanford 5-6
Concordia 3-7
Grand Canyon 2-8
Final Week MPSF Schedule
Thursday, April 4
BYU at Grand Canyon 6:00 pm
USC at Pepperdine 7:00 pm
Concordia at UCLA 7:00 pm
Saturday, April 6
Concordia at Pepperdine 5:00 pm
Stanford at Grand Canyon 6:00 pm
UCLA at USC 7:00 pm (Pac-12 Network TV)
Team Stats
GCU
UCLA
Kills
37
50
Errors
17
17
Attempts
111
117
Hitting %
.180
.282
Points
51.0
67.0
Assists
35
49
Aces
6
8
Blocks
8.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
6
Blocks
3
Kills
16
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
MB
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