Jake ArnitzJake Arnitz
UCLA Athletics

Volleyball Takes Five to Down Penn St.

Men's Volleyball

The 5th-ranked volleyball team downed Penn State in five sets on Fri.

Box Score

The fifth-ranked men's volleyball team earned a five-set win at #10 Penn State in a match played on Friday night. Scores of the contest were 25-23, 22-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-8.  UCLA improves to 3-0 on the season and returns to the West Coast to begin MPSF play next Friday at #2 UC Irvine.

Jake Arnitz led UCLA with 13 kills, including several key points in the deciding set. He added an ace and four block assists. Mitch Stahl put down 12 kills and added seven block assists. Micah Ma'a totaled 10 kills, three aces and 26 set assists. Oliver Martin was credited with a block solo and six block assists. Hagen Smith had eight block assists and 24 set assists. Michael Fisher registered nine kills, two aces and four block assists. Davis Gillett dug seven balls.

The Bruins started strong and moved out to an 8-3 advantage in set one. UCLA led 13-8 after a kill by Arnitz, but the Nittany Lions began to rally and managed to level the score at 17-all. UCLA regained an edge, 18-17, on a block by Arnitz and Martin.  A kill by Fisher broke a 20-all tie and the Bruins won the first set after a kill from middle blocker Stahl went down for a 25-23 decision.

Set two was an even battle in the early going until the home team ran off five straight points to establish a 5-10 lead. After a UCLA timeout, the Bruins battled back to trail 11-14, following a kill from Arnitz. However, Penn State scored four of the next five points to go up 12-18. The Bruins carved the deficit to 20-23 after a block by Martin, but PSU came away with a 22-25 win.

The blocking of Stahl and Smith helped UCLA open up a 7-3 gap in set three. A Smith kill left UCLA with a 13-8 edge as the Bruins kept the pressure on. A Fisher, Stahl and Smith wall earned a blocking point for a 22-15 lead and the Bruins settled for a 25-18 win.

UCLA moved out in front 10-5 to begin set four. It led 12-8 after a Martin and Fisher block. Penn State came back to close to 12-11 and force a Bruin timeout. Fisher's kill broke a 14-all tie and UCLA led 16-14 after an ace from Ma'a. The Nittany Lions were not done and stormed back into a 19-20 lead and captured the set at 21-25.

In the deciding set, the score was even at 3, 4 and 5 before UCLA opened up an 8-6 margin at the break, following a block by Arnitz and Martin.  A kill from Ma'a and an ace from Arnitz upped the advantage to 11-7. Kills by Fisher and Arnitz made it 13-7 and the Bruins brought home a 15-8 win.