UCLA
UC Irvine
Bruins Beat Anteaters in Four
March 30, 2013 | Men's Volleyball
March 30, 2013
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The fourth-ranked UCLA men's volleyball recorded its second upset this month, dispatching No. 2 UC Irvine in four sets at the Bren Center Saturday night.
Set scores were 25-16, 25-16, 19-25, 25-17 in 100 minutes in front of 1,879 fans. UCLA improved to 17-9 overall, 13-7 in MPSF competition. UC Irvine fell to 17-7, 14-6.
More importantly, the Bruins remained in fourth place, ahead of Pepperdine in the conference standings. The top four finishers in the MPSF race are awarded the home court in the quarterfinals of the MPSF Tournament.
Earlier in March the Bruins avenged a home loss by beating third-ranked Long Beach State at the Pyramid. Saturday's victory at UCI extended UCLA's winning streak to six matches -- the Bruins were 6-0 in March -- and snapped a three-match losing streak to the Anteaters dating to last season. For the month, the Bruins hit .380 and have raised their season hitting percentage to .320, ranked among the Top 5 in the country.
Junior Gonzalo Quiroga continued his hot hitting for the week, smashing a match-high 21 kills (.439) and adding an ace and two block assists for 23.0 points. Teammate Dane Worley recorded 13 kills (.526) and three block assists for 14.5 points and Robart Page added 11 kills (.364). Setter Connor Bannan posted 50 assists and libero Evan Mottram recorded 15 digs.
The Bruins converted 15 more kills than the `Eaters (57-42) and limited one of the nation's top hitting teams to an attack percentage of .183. UCI's Colin Mehring, who had been hitting better than 50 percent on the season, was held to four kills in eight swings with an error (.375). Additionally, UCLA out-blocked UCI, 11.0-10.5 and served five aces to the hosts two.
The kill leader for UCI was Connor Hughes with 12.
The Bruins return to Pauley Pavilion on Thursday, Apr. 4 for a 6 p.m. MPSF match with Cal Baptist. The Bruins also will host top-ranked BYU on Sat., Apr. 6 at 7 p.m. in Pauley.
