University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
USC
Bruins Ace Trojans at Galen Center
February 18, 2013 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 18, 2013
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Seventh-ranked UCLA swept No. 9 USC in men's volleyball action at the Galen Center on Monday night.
The Bruins, who raised their overall record to 10-8 and evened their conference record to 6-6 won 25-18, 25-21, 25-17 in 79 minutes. USC fell to 3-7 overall and 3-7 in conference play.
The Bruins were in control for the entire match, taking a 7-2 lead in Set 1 on a combination of tough serving and USC's bad passing. The Trojans would never threaten in the first set as UCLA, behind five aces and .390 hitting built pair of six-point leads and finally won by seven, scoring three of the final four points.
In Set 2, the Bruins built three five-point leads on an ace by junior Dane Worley and kills by Robart Page (10-5, 11-6) before USC rallied to tie the score several times, the last at 18-18. A kill by Worley, a USC hitting mistake and an ace by junior Gonzalo Quiroga gave the Bruins a 21-18 cushion as the Trojans called their final timeout. Two USC kills forced the Bruins to call their first timeout of the match, ahead by one at 21-20. The Bruins scored four of the next five points with Quiroga scoring the set winner for a 2-0 UCLA sets lead.
UCLA broke Set 3 open early with hot hitting and tough serving. Repeatedly, USC was forced to recover from poor passes while the Bruins hammered away, building a 12-7 lead prior to USC's first timeout. The lead grew to 16-10 as Worley and Page continued to pound away and the Trojans called their final timeout. UCLA called its second and last timeout of the match when USC cut the margin to four, 18-14. But the Bruins outscored their rivals 7-3 on three kills by Worley and two by Page to earn their fourth sweep of the season.
For the night, the Bruins hit .522 and served seven aces to USC's zero. UCLA's .522 attack percentage was the best in the MPSF this season. The Bruins out-blocked their rivals, 6.5-4.0.
Worley led the Bruins with 12 kills, two aces and three total blocks for 16.0 points, followed by 10 kills and 11.5 points from Page. Quiroga added eight kills, two aces and 10.5 points.
USC's Tanner Jansen led both teams with 14 kills.
The Bruins will meet No. 4 Pepperdine on Sat., Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. at Firestone Fieldhouse.
