University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Pepperdine
UCLA Falls in Three at Pepperdine
April 08, 2015 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 12 men's volleyball team lost in three straight sets at No. 3 Pepperdine in an MPSF match on Tuesday night. Scores of the contest were 21-25,21-25,19-25 as the Waves captured their 20th straight home match win. UCLA is now 11-12 on the season and 7-12 in MPSF action. The Bruins will host No. 4 UC Irvine on Friday night in Pauley Pavilion at 8 p.m.
J.T. Hatch led UCLA with 10 kills, an ace and seven digs. Jake Arnitz added eight kills and a couple of block assists. Trent Kersten recorded six kills, two block solos, two block assists and hit .385. Christian Hessenauer totaled nine digs. Pepperdine outhit the Bruins .307 to .211, but the Bruins had an edge in total blocks 5.5 to 4.0.
The teams battled back-and-forth through the early stages of set one with the score being even at points 7, 8, 10 and 11. UCLA took a 13-11 lead after a kill from Kersten. Pepp tied the score at 15-all and then broke a 16-all tie with four of the next five points. UCLA closed to 21-22 after an Arnitz kill, but the Waves tallied the next three points for the set.
Pepperdine jumped out to the early lead in set two. UCLA caught the Waves at 8 after an ace from Hatch. The score was level at 9,10 and 11 before UCLA took a 12-11 edge on a Kersten kill. The Waves answered with the next four points. The Bruins sliced the margin to 15-16 following a Eric Matheis ace and went on to tie the score at 17. Pepp scored the next two points, forcing a Bruin timeout. UCLA cut the gap to 20-22, after an ace from Hessenauer, and 21-23, after a kill from Hatch. The Waves held on and scored the next two points to win the set.
The score was even early in set three. UCLA broke a 7-all tie with two straight points and then led 10-8 after a couple of Wave errors. Pepp came back to even the score at 10. A Michael Fisher kill lifted UCLA into a 11-10 lead, but the Waves registered the next three points. UCLA tied it at 14, on a Hatch kil,l and at 16, on a kill from Mitch Stahl. Pepperdine then put three straight on the board for a 16-19 lead. UCLA closed to 18-19 on an ace from Stahl, who now has at least one service ace in his last nine matches. However, the Waves came back to take the set and match by a 19-25 score.
