UCLA
Stanford
Bruins Win a Five-Set Thriller Over the Cardinal
February 05, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 5, 2009
The weather outside may have been frightful, but the result inside Pauley Pavilion Thursday night was quite delightful as eighth-ranked UCLA outlasted No. 5 Stanford in five sets.
UCLA won 34-36, 26-30, 30-21, 30-27, 15-11 in front of 471 (including the UCLA Band) dampened but happy fans in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins leveled their overall and conference records to 5-5, 3-3. Stanford fell to 7-4, 3-3.
In Set 1, the Bruins trailed throughout until senior Matt Wade and freshman Thomas Amberg combined on a block to give the hosts a 29-28 lead. The score seesawed after that until Stanford's Brandon Williams and Evan Romero scored on consecutive kills to lift the Cardinal to a 1-0 lead in sets.
The Bruins spotted the Cardinal a 9-0 lead in Set 2 before outscoring them by six points in the rest of the set. UCLA trailed by just three points (25-28) before a pair of dumps by Stanford setter Kawika Shoji gave the visitors a 2-0 lead.
In Set 3, the Bruins raced out to a 5-0 lead before the Cardinal burned their first timeout. Following that break, Stanford chipped away at the lead and trailed by one (11-12) when UCLA's Nick Vogel committed a service error. But the Bruins went on a 10-2 run to effectively ice the set and cut the Cardinal's lead in half.
In the fourth set, Stanford did not grab the lead until sophomore Spencer McLachlin converted one of his 22 kills. Following a UCLA timeout, a kill by the Bruins' Jack Polales touched the antenna and Stanford owned a two-point lead and the momentum. An attack error by Shoji and a big block by UCLA's Garrett Muagututia and Vogel tied the score at 26-26. Stanford called its final timeout. Another block by Muagututia and Vogel gave the Bruins a one-point lead before Romero converted to tie the score at 27-27. Muagututia then slammed a cross-court kill, combined with Vogel a third time for a block on Romero and finally stuffed Romero one-on-one for a 30-27 decision and a fifth set.
Fatigued, Stanford was never really a factor in the final set as it committed four service errors, three hitting errors (.267) and did not block a ball. The Bruins, conversely, recorded one block, and converted eight kills in 11 attempts without an error.
Four Bruins recorded double-digit kills, led by O'Malley with 23 (.442), two aces and four total blocks for 28.5 points. Polales and Vogel, who came off the bench in Game 2, each recorded 24 kills and both hit better than .500. Senior D.J. Stromath added 10 kills (.364) and eight total blocks.
For Stanford, Romero pounded 28 kills, followed by McLachlin's 22 (.429) and freshman Brad Lawson' 19.
The Bruins host Pacific on Fri., Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
