UCLA
UC Irvine
Bruins Fall to Anteaters in Four Games
January 30, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
Jan. 30, 2009
Eighth-ranked UCLA fell in four games to No.4 UC Irvine at the Bren Center Friday in front of 1,564 fans.
The Anteaters won 20-30, 30-24, 30-17, 30-28. UCI improved to 8-2 overall and 4-1 in the MPSF, while UCLA fell to 4-5, 2-3 in league play.
With the score tied 15-15 in the first game, the Bruins went on a 7-0 run which included four aces by junior Garrett Muagututia to open a 22-15 advantage on their way to the 30-20 victory.
In the second set, UCI led 19-17 before getting a pair of kills from Carson Clark and one each from Taylor Wilson and Kevin Wynne combined with two Bruin attack errors to break open the set, 25-17. Wilson put away eight kills in the set to spark UCI. The Anteaters, who managed just one block in the first set, rejected 6.5 in the second.
UCI outscored UCLA 8-3 in a run that included four blocks to take a 20-12 lead in the third set. The Anteaters never looked back, winning 30-17.
In the fourth set, UCI separated itself again with three straight points on a UCLA hitting error followed by a kill by Wilson and an ace by Steller to take a 15-12 lead. UCI maintained at least a two-point edge until the Bruins used three Muagututia kills to close within 29-28. Steller pounded a kill to end the match, 30-28.
In team stats, UCI won the battle at the net out-blocking UCLA, 15.5-10 and firing seven aces to the Bruins' four. The `Eaters also hit .350 to the Bruins' .244, although the visitors hit .500 in Game 4.
Muagututia recorded a match-high 22 kills with four aces, followed by freshman Jack Polales with nine kills. Setter Matt Wade had 44 set assists and a team-high eight digs.
The Anteaters used a solid team effort with Jon Steller recording 18 kills and Wilson recording a season-high of 17 kills and five blocks.
The Bruins will host Stanford (Feb. 5) and Pacific (Feb. 6) in Pauley Pavilion in their next home series.
