University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
UC San Diego
Tritons Shock Bruins in Three
February 24, 2010 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 24, 2010
Fourteenth-ranked UC San Diego shocked No. 3 UCLA Wednesday night with a three-set victory in Pauley Pavilion.
The Tritons won 30-22, 30-25, 30-26 in 84 minutes in front of 998 fans. The loss ended the Bruins' modest three-match winning streak and dropped them from a tie for second place into fifth in league play. The Bruins fell to 9-7 overall and 8-5 in the MPSF race. UCSD, which snapped a four-match conference losing string, notched its second league victory in 11 matches and improved to 5-11 overall.
The victory was also UCSD's first in Pauley Pavilion.
Early in Game 1, the Tritons broke a 3-3 tie and scored three straight points on a pair of kills and a block on UCLA's Garrett Muagututia, forcing the Bruins to call a timeout. The Bruins earned a point after the timeout, but the Tritons scored eight of the next 10 points to build a 14-6 lead.
UCSD never looked back ... for the next two sets.
Sluggish and off their game, the Bruins fell out of position on defense, getting out-dug 35-28 and out-blocked 8.0-5.5. UCSD also enjoyed a 14-kill edge and attacked at a .427 clip to UCLA's .260 mark.
Muagututia, the Bruins' top point scorer, was held to nine kills and a .103 attack percentage, although he did serve three aces. Starter Jack Polales left the match after one game hitting .000 on five attempts. Sophomore quick hitter Thomas Amberg, the Bruins' most efficient attacker, also hit .000. The few bright spots were sophomore quick hitter Nick Vogel who scored 10.5 points on seven kills (.545), two aces and three block assists and freshman opposite Jonathan Bridgeman (Polales' replacement) who hammered 11 kills (.526) and scored 13. 0 points.
Three Tritons recorded double-digit kills led by senior Frank Fritsch who had 16 (.419). Junior Joel Davidson added 12 kills (.391) and senior Jason Spangler contributed 11 (.417).
UCLA will host Long Beach State on Fri., Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
