UCLA
BYU
Bruins Deal Cougars a Sweep
January 29, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
Jan. 29, 2010
Even a poker-faced shill would have enjoyed this victory.
Sixth-ranked UCLA dealt No. 4 BYU a 3-0 upset in Pauley Pavilion that left the visitors shaking their heads. They played well in a 38-40, 21-30, 24-30 setback, yet their pockets were left hanging inside out.
Three BYU players hit better than .300. In Game 1, the Cougars hit .319 and rallied from a 27-24 deficit to tie the game at 29-29. Three times in Game 2 BYU stuffed UCLA's Nick Vogel on the same play. They rallied from a 10-15 deficit to tie the score in the second set.
But it was the Bruins who stole the prize at the center of the table.
The Bruins blocked the Cougars off the floor, 11.0-5.5 and hit .459 with 19 kills (.545) from sophomore Jack Polales, who led all players with 21.0 points. Junior Dylan Bowermaster started his second straight match and produced 14 kills (.750), two aces, two block assists, seven digs and no reception errors in 24 chances. Senior Garrett Muagututia added 13 kills, two aces, a solo block and five digs. He passed 38 serves without an error.
Consistently, the Bruins won the big points by making clutch plays and fighting off adversity.
Despite the despair of losing a late three-point lead in Game 1, UCLA fought off six game points to outlast BYU in the longest set of the season for both teams. Kills by Vogel and Bowermaster and an attack error by the Cougars helped rally UCLA from a 37-38 hole for a 1-0 set advantage.
In Game 2, the Bruins were winning all hands until BYU Coach Shawn Patchell subbed in senior setter Yamil Perez for starter Reed Chilton. When Perez came to the service line with the Cougars trailing 10-15, he served five straight points and forced UCLA to burn both of its timeouts before Bowermaster hammered a kill to give UCLA a one-point lead. Bowermaster served an ace to swing the momentum back towards the Bruins and before they knew it, the Cougars were staring at a 22-18 deficit when Patchell called his last timeout.
In Game 3, BYU stuck around until UCLA broke it open at 8-8. Polales, Vogel, Ker and Bowermaster each converted kills and the Bruins recorded four total blocks in the game to limit BYU to an attack percentage of .261. BYU helped by committing six service errors in the game.
UCLA won its third straight match and evened its overall record at 4-4 and improved to 3-2 in MPSF play. BYU fell to 5-3, 3-2 and suffered its second straight loss.
The two teams meet again on Saturday Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion. Prior to the match, UCLA will honor its 1970 and 2000 NCAA championship teams.
