MVB Opens 2020 With Road Win

Thursday, January 2

Amherst, NY

3:00 PM

UCLA

1-0,0-0MPSF

Daemen College

0-1,0-0DI Independent

UCLA

Daemen

Daenan Gyiman led UCLA to season-opening win.

Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA

MVB Opens 2020 With Road Win

January 02, 2020 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (pdf)

The No. 2 men's volleyball team opened the 2020 season with a straight set win at Daemen College of Buffalo, N.Y. in the season-opening match for both teams. Scores of the non-league contest were 25-16, 25-16, 25-17. UCLA, now 1-0, continues its road swing with matches on Saturday at George Mason, site of this year's NCAA Championship, and on Monday at No. 10 Princeton.

In set one, Daemen jumped out to a 0-3 advantage. UCLA stormed back and grabbed its first lead, at 5-4, following an ace from Austin Matautia. A J.R. Norris IV swing made it 8-6 Bruins. Blocks by Daenan Gyimah / Mads Kyed Jensen and then Gyimah / Matautia upped the margin to 12-8. Another ace from Matautia lifted the Bruins into a 17-11 lead. Alex Knight's kill off the block made it 20-13. Gyimah's swing out of the middle ended the set at 25-16. UCLA hit .235 for the frame.

The teams traded points until tied at 5-all to begin the second set. Daemen went up 5-7, but UCLA answered with three straight for an 8-7 advantage after an ace by Knight which rolled off the tape. Gyimah's kill snapped a 9-all tie and put the Bruins in front for good in the set. Back-to-back aces by Kyed Jensen handed the Bruins a 12-9 advantage. An ace by Gyimah extended the Bruin margin to 18-11. Gyimah's block put UCLA up 24-15 and then the teams traded service errors for a 25-16 Bruin win. The Bruins improved their hitting percentage to .400 and had six aces.

UCLA established an early lead in set three, taking a 7-3 edge after a kill from Knight. A block by Cole Ketrzynski / Grant Maleski put the Bruins up 8-5. Kyed Jensen added an ace for a 14-8 difference. Back-to-back kills from Ian Parish made it 18-9. A couple of Brandon Rattray swings lifted UCLA into a 23-16 edge. Another kill from Parish, on an overpass, end the match at 25-17.

UCLA outhit Daemen .383 to - .081 on the match. The Bruins enjoyed a 12-2 edge at the service line and a 5.0 to 1.0 margin in total blocks. Gyimah had five kills, a team-high four blocks, two aces and hit .714 for the match. Knight led UCLA with six kills, while hitting .417. Kyed Jensen added four aces.