UCLA
Cal State Northridge
Road Troubles Continue: Bruins Fall in Four to Matadors
March 11, 2009 | Men's Volleyball
March 11, 2009
The nightmare away from home continued for UCLA's 11th ranked men's volleyball team Wednesday as top-ranked Cal State Northridge handed the visitors a 3-1 loss at the Matadome.
CS Northridge won 30-20, 26-30, 30-28, 30-28 in two hours and eight minutes in front of 1,032 fans. The Matadors, undefeated at home, raised their overall record to 16-2, 12-2 in league play. The Bruins fell to 8-12, 4-9. The setback was the Bruins' third to the Matadors this season and dropped their road record to 1-7.
In the only game they won, the Bruins rallied valiantly from a four-point deficit at 20-24. Two kills and a block by UCLA's Garrett Muagututia, a kill by the Bruins' Thomas Amberg, an ace by setter Kevin Ker and a pair of CSUN hitting errors ignited a 7-0 UCLA run. After a CSUN point made it 27-25, the Bruins finished with a 3-1 run, highlighted by an ace from Muagututia, to secure the set.
In Games 3 and 4, the Bruins had chances to tie at set point and failed. In the third set, UCLA rallied with a pair of points to close to within one at 28-29, but went down on a spike by Eric Vance, who led all players with 23 kills.
In the fourth set, the Bruins rallied from 26-29 with two points to make it 28-29 again. CS Northridge called timeout and Amberg committed a service error to give the hosts a victory.
Freshman Jack Polales led UCLA with 17 kills (.484), and Muagututia added 12 (.500), two aces and three total blocks. Freshman Nick Vogel had five kills (.400) off the bench. Junior setter Kevin Ker recorded 28 assists in relief of starter Matt Wade.
In addition to Vance's 23 kills (.528), Mike Gaudino added 12 for the Matadors.
The Bruins will travel to UC Santa Barbara on Fri., Mar. 13 for a 7 p.m. MPSF match.
