UCLA
Stanford
Bruins Bring Down No. 4 Cardinal in Three Sets
March 10, 2013 | Men's Volleyball
March 10, 2013
The sixth-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team chopped down No. 4 Stanford in three straight sets in an MPSF Conference match played on Sunday afternoon in the John Wooden Center. Scores of the match were 25-21, 25-23, 29-27. UCLA improves its record to 13-9 overall and 9-7 in the MPSF. Stanford fell to 12-8 and 9-8 in conference action.
In set one, Clayton Paullin's play helped break a 5-all tie with a couple of kills, some tough serving and a few big plays at the net. When Paullin was done the Bruins owned a 10-6 advantage. The Bruins still led 14-9 after a Paullin block. A Robart Page kill made it 19-13 Bruins. Stanford caught a second-wind at that point and narrowed the margin to 23-21, forcing a Bruin timeout. A service error killed the Cardinal's momentum and the Bruins took the next point as well for a 25-21 win.
The Bruins ran out to a 8-2 lead in set two thanks to some fine serving by Dane Worley. The junior put back-to-back service aces together for a 7-2 lead and then added a kill for the 8-2 gap. UCLA grabbed a 18-11 edge on a Page kill. Stanford rallied to close to 22-18 and then to 24-23 after some Bruin errors. However, the next point went to the Bruins who owned a 25-23 win.
Stanford opened up a 6-3 lead in set three, taking advantage of the poor Bruin service game. A Page kill narrowed the deficit to 7-5, but the Bruins had trouble gaining the lead. Worley's hit off the block brought UCLA to within one, at 11-10. Stanford held off the Bruin efforts and went back up 12-10. Kills by Gonzalo Quiroga and Paullin knotted the set at 12-all. The score was tied again at 13, 18, 20 and 21. Quiroga's spike helped UCLA take a 24-22 lead, but Stanford fought off a couple of match points and tied the score at 24. A Worley kill put the Bruins up 25-24, but Stanford had the answer once again, taking the lead on a service error and hitting error. Worley tied the set at 26, and then at 27 with a pair of clutch blasts. The Bruins then put a couple of kills together, as Page, and then setter Steve O'Dell put balls away for the 29-27 win.
Page topped the Bruins with 15 kills. Paullin finished with 9 kills, while Worley added eight to go with his three service aces. Spencer Rowe put down five blocks. Quiroga chipped in with nine spikes, five digs and three blocks. O'Dell had 35 set assists and a block. Libero Evan Mottram recorded eight digs.
UCLA will hit the road next week for matches at Long Beach State (Wednesday) and at Cal State Northridge (Friday). The next home contest for the Bruins will come on Thursday night April 4 against Cal Baptist (6 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion).
