MVB Falls in Four in MPSF Semifinals

Thursday, April 18

Malibu, CA

7:30 PM

UCLA

19-9

USC

18-9

USC

UCLA

Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA

MVB Falls in Four in MPSF Semifinals

April 18, 2019 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (pdf)

The second-seeded men's volleyball team dropped a four-set decision to third-seeded USC in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament on Thursday night at Pepperdine. Scores of the match were 21-25, 18-25, 27-25, 23-25. No. 6-ranked UCLA finishes the regular season 19-9 on the year.

In set one, the Trojans moved out to an early 4-7 advantage. The Bruins climbed back to within one at 9-10, but USC answered with the next four points to go up 9-14. Dylan Missry's kill broke the run and was followed up by a block by Grant Maleski and another Missry kill to make it 12-14. The Bruins pulled even at 16-all after a Micah Ma'a tip and a block by Matt Younggren / Ma'a. The score was then tied at points 17, 18 and 19. USC ripped off three straight to take a 19-22 lead. A block put the Trojans at set point at 20-24. A Maleski / Brandon Rattray block fought off the first set point, but USC came back to take the set 21-25. The Bruins hit -.083 for the frame, with nine errors, and failed to register an ace. USC hit .130 with an ace.

The Trojans grabbed an early 7-9 lead in set two and extended the margin to 13-17. The Bruins cut the gap to one at 9-10 and 11-12, but could not pull even. UCLA used Daenan Gyimah's first kill of the night and a block by Gyimah / Adam Parks to get within two at 15-17. USC responded with a run to take a 17-21 advantage. After a Ma'a kill sliced the deficit to 18-21, USC ran off the last four points of the frame for an 18-25 win. The Bruins hit .200 to .522 for the Trojans. Neither team recorded an ace in the set.

USC broke a 5-all tie in set three with four straight points to take a 5-9 lead. The Bruins battled back to even the score at 13-all and took a 15-14 lead after a USC ball handling error. A Gyimah swing put the Bruins up 16-15. The score was then tied at 16, 17 (Rattray kill) and 18 (Gyimah kill) before the Trojans tallied two straight for a 18-20 edge. UCLA tied it up at 20 after a kill from Rattray and a Trojan error. The score was then even at 21, 22 and 23. UCLA went ahead 24-23 after a Trojan attack error. USC fought off two set points before Gyimah delivered an ace for a 27-25 win. The Bruins hit .382 in the set, as Ma'a moved back to setter, and registered their first three aces of the match.

USC opened set four by taking a 4-6 lead. UCLA tied it up at 6-all on a Ma'a / Gyimah block and then scored the next four points to take a 10-7 advantage after a Sam Kobrine kill. Three straight aces from Ma'a upped the Bruin lead to 13-7. With UCLA in front 16-10, the Trojans rallied for nine straight points (five kills, two aces and a couple of Bruin errors) to move in front 16-19. A Rattray kill ended the run and made it 17-19. A Younggren swing cut the gap to 19-20. Kills by Missry and then Gyimah tied the score at 21 and then 22-all. A Bruin service error and a Trojan kill handed the Trojans a match point. A service error saved one point and made it 23-24, but the Trojans prevailed on a service error for a 23-25 decision.

USC outhit the Bruins .350 to .241 for the match. UCLA owned a 7.0 to 6.0 edge in total blocks and finished with a seven to three ace advantage. Ma'a upped his all-time school leading career service ace total to 208 and his season-record mark to 67. Ma'a is the first Bruin to crack the 200 career service ace mark. The NCAA bracket and at-large teams will be announced on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. on the NCAA Selection Show on ncaa.com.