MVB Goes the Distance to Down Princeton

Monday, January 6

Princeton, NJ

11:00 AM

UCLA

3-0

Princeton

0-3

UCLA

Princeton

Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA

MVB Goes the Distance to Down Princeton

January 06, 2020 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (pdf)

The No. 2 UCLA men's volleyball team completed its eastern road trip with a five-set win at No. 10 Princeton on Monday. Scores of the match were 25-17, 26-24, 33-35, 16-25, 15-10. The Bruins improved to 3-0 on the season and will next play at UC San Diego on Jan. 17. The first home match of the season will be against these same Tigers on Jan. 30 in the Wooden Center.

In set one, UCLA grabbed a 4-3 edge after a block by Cole Ketrzynski/Daenan Gyimah. An ace from Gyimah put the Bruins up 6-4. A Matt Younggren kill pushed the margin to 9-6. UCLA led 14-11 following a smash from Alex Knight. At 18-16, Austin Matautia ignited a late five-point Bruin run with a kill which was followed by a Gyimah/Ketrzynski block, a Mads Kyed Jensen ace, a Ketrzynski kill and another Kyed Jensen ace for a 23-16 advantage. Ketrzynski, who finished with six kills in the frame, ended the set with a solo block at 25-17. UCLA hit .500 as a team.

The Bruins put together a three-point run with two kills from Knight and an ace from Gyimah to stake out a 6-3 lead to begin set two. An ace from Kyed Jensen made the margin 11-8. A Matautia swing had UCLA up 15-12. Ketrzynski's kill pushed the lead to 17-14. After UCLA assumed its biggest lead of the set, at 19-15, Princeton answered with three-straight to slice the gap to one. The Tigers went on to even the score at 20, 22 and 23. A service error lifted UCLA into a 24-23 advantage, but Princeton saved the set point. Ketrzynski's sixth kill of the second set and Kyed Jensen's fourth ace of the match then handed UCLA the win at 26-24. UCLA hit .560 for the second set to .500 for Princeton.

UCLA tied the score at three on a kill by Ketrzynski and at five after a Ketrzynski ace in the early action of set three. The score was then even at points 8, 9,10, and 11. Princeton tallied the next two for an 11-13 edge and then surged to a 12-15 advantage. The Tigers still led 16-19, before UCLA narrowed the gap to 18-19 on a service error and an ace from Matautia. UCLA caught the Tigers at 20-all after a Ketrzynski/Daniel Matheney block and a Tiger attack error. The score was then level at 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 as Princeton managed to save 10 match points along the way. The Tigers then took advantage of a Bruin attack error and captured the set with a block for a 33-35 decision. UCLA hit .189 in the third to .125 for Princeton, which had six blocks.

UCLA moved out to a 6-2 lead to begin the fourth set. However, Princeton registered six of the next eight points to even the score at 8-all and kept the momentum to go in front 10-13. A Gyimah kill shrunk the gap to 11-13, but the Tigers scored three straight to establish an 11-16 advantage. The Bruins did not get closer than four points the balance of the set in a 16-25 loss. UCLA hit .095 for the set to .273 for Princeton.

The Bruins started strong and recorded the first five points of the fifth set. Princeton came back with the next three. A kill by Gyimah and an ace from Matautia made it 7-3. The Tigers closed to 10-7, but followed it up with a service error. Gyimah added another kill for a 12-7 edge. The Tigers narrowed the gap to 13-10 only to see Gyimah answer with his fifth kill of the frame. The Bruins took the set and the match after a Tiger attack error for a 15-10 win.

Ketrzynski led the Bruin attack with 17 kills and six blocks. Gyimah added 14 kills, hit .458 and added five blocks. Knight was also in double-digit kills with 11. Kyed Jensen, who was named Off the Block's National Setter and Freshman of the Week earlier in the day, totaled five aces on the match. UCLA outhit the Tigers for the match .342 to .252 and had 10 aces to 5 for PU. Princeton won the battle of the block 16.5 team blocks to 10.0.