Thursday, April 4
Los Angeles, CA
7:00 PM
UCLA
3
vs
0
Concordia University Irvine
Seniors Jonah Kay (l) and Dylan Missry (r) at the net.
Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA
MVB Downs Eagles on Senior Night
April 04, 2019 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 5 men's volleyball team defeated No. 14 Concordia in straight sets on Thursday night to remain in a tie with Pepperdine atop the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings (8-3) with one match to play. Scores of the Senior Night match were 25-19, 25-19, 25-19. Opposite Daenan Gyimah led the way with 14 kills for the Bruins to go along with three aces.
After the score was tied at five in set one, Concordia reeled off three straight. UCLA answered with three straight of its own to even the score at eight-all. With the score level at 10-10, Grant Maleski took over at the service line and paced the Bruins to five straight points, two on service aces, for a 15-10 advantage. Concordia closed to 21-17, but UCLA responded. Senior Spencer Sachs came in to serve the Bruins to set point and senior Micah Ma'a delivered the final kill for a 25-19 win. UCLA hit .240 in the set to .000 for CUI.
With the score even at five-all, UCLA again utilized the strong serve of Maleski to help register five straight for a 10-5 lead. After blocks from Gyimah/Ma'a and Ma'a/Youggren/Gyimah, UCLA enjoyed a 13-6 margin. CUI battled back to cut the gap to 15-11 and UCLA responded with an ace from Gyimah for a 18-12 lead. The Eagles came back to narrow the lead to 22-19. A Gyimah swing and a Maleski/Gyimah block made it 24-19. Senior Jonah Kay then put down the winning point for a 25-19 win. UCLA hit .400 for the set and totaled 5.0 blocks.
UCLA jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start set three after a Gyimah ace. CUI sliced the deficit to 12-10. UCLA answered with kills from Gyimah and Matt Younggren for a 17-13 advantage. The Eagles cut the margin to 19-17 before Gyimah and senior Dylan Missry combined on a block for a 20-17 lead. Brandon Rattray then delivered points 24 and 25 on kills for the win.
UCLA outhit the Eagles .322 to .110 on the night, the fifth time in the last eight matches the Bruins have held the opponent at or below .200. Maleski finished with a career-best three aces on the night to help the Bruins to a six to four edge at the service line. Younggren and Gyimah had four block assists as UCLA won the net battle 8.0 to 5.5.
The Bruins will conclude the regular season on Saturday night with a match at No. 6 USC needing to win and for the Waves, who play Concordia that night, to lose in order to claim the MPSF regular season title and the home court for the semifinal (Apr. 18) and final (Apr. 20) of the league tournament. A second-place finish will bring UCLA a quarterfinal match in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom on Saturday night Apr. 13 at 7 p.m. against the league's seventh-seed.
MPSF Standings (after action on 4/4)
Pepperdine 8-3
UCLA 8-3
USC 6-5
BYU 6-6
Stanford 5-6
Grand Canyon 3-8
Concordia 3-8
*Apr. 6 matches - UCLA at USC, Concordia at Pepperdine, Stanford at Grand Canyon
After the score was tied at five in set one, Concordia reeled off three straight. UCLA answered with three straight of its own to even the score at eight-all. With the score level at 10-10, Grant Maleski took over at the service line and paced the Bruins to five straight points, two on service aces, for a 15-10 advantage. Concordia closed to 21-17, but UCLA responded. Senior Spencer Sachs came in to serve the Bruins to set point and senior Micah Ma'a delivered the final kill for a 25-19 win. UCLA hit .240 in the set to .000 for CUI.
With the score even at five-all, UCLA again utilized the strong serve of Maleski to help register five straight for a 10-5 lead. After blocks from Gyimah/Ma'a and Ma'a/Youggren/Gyimah, UCLA enjoyed a 13-6 margin. CUI battled back to cut the gap to 15-11 and UCLA responded with an ace from Gyimah for a 18-12 lead. The Eagles came back to narrow the lead to 22-19. A Gyimah swing and a Maleski/Gyimah block made it 24-19. Senior Jonah Kay then put down the winning point for a 25-19 win. UCLA hit .400 for the set and totaled 5.0 blocks.
UCLA jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start set three after a Gyimah ace. CUI sliced the deficit to 12-10. UCLA answered with kills from Gyimah and Matt Younggren for a 17-13 advantage. The Eagles cut the margin to 19-17 before Gyimah and senior Dylan Missry combined on a block for a 20-17 lead. Brandon Rattray then delivered points 24 and 25 on kills for the win.
UCLA outhit the Eagles .322 to .110 on the night, the fifth time in the last eight matches the Bruins have held the opponent at or below .200. Maleski finished with a career-best three aces on the night to help the Bruins to a six to four edge at the service line. Younggren and Gyimah had four block assists as UCLA won the net battle 8.0 to 5.5.
The Bruins will conclude the regular season on Saturday night with a match at No. 6 USC needing to win and for the Waves, who play Concordia that night, to lose in order to claim the MPSF regular season title and the home court for the semifinal (Apr. 18) and final (Apr. 20) of the league tournament. A second-place finish will bring UCLA a quarterfinal match in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom on Saturday night Apr. 13 at 7 p.m. against the league's seventh-seed.
MPSF Standings (after action on 4/4)
Pepperdine 8-3
UCLA 8-3
USC 6-5
BYU 6-6
Stanford 5-6
Grand Canyon 3-8
Concordia 3-8
*Apr. 6 matches - UCLA at USC, Concordia at Pepperdine, Stanford at Grand Canyon