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UCLA Athletics

MVB Sweeps UCSB in Three Straight Sets

Men's Volleyball

The No. 4 MVB team swept No. 9 UCSB in straight sets on Friday night.

Box Score

The No. 4-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team swept No. 9 UC Santa Barbara in an MPSF match played Friday night in Santa Barbara. It was just the second home loss of the season for the Gauchos. Scores of the contest were 25-22, 25-15, 25-23. UCLA is now 17-3, 13-3 on the season.

In set one, the Bruins broke a 10-all tie with two straight blocks from Jake Arnitz/MItch Stahl and then Hagen Smith/Stahl. An ace by Smith lifted the Bruins into a 15-12 lead. A kill by Oliver Martin made it 16-13, but the Gauchos rallied to level the score at 18-each. An Arnitz swing put UCLA back in front 20-19. A Micha Ma'a kill upped the advantage to 24-22 and the Bruins captured the set after an attack error, 25-22. UCLA hit .333 for the set and benefitted from six kills by Arnitz.

The Bruins broke open set two by scoring five straight points after the score was tied at 5-all. The lead grew to 14-7 after a kill by JT Hatch. Gaucho errors helped the Bruins extend the margin to 20-12 before coming away with the 25-15 win. UCSB hit -.147 for the set.

In set three, UCSB tallied three straight points to take a 6-9 lead. Kills by Arnitz and Hatch along with a Hatch/Martin block made it 9-10. The Bruins evened the score at 11-all after a Stahl/Hatch block. A Smith kill lifted UCLA into a 15-14 edge. The score was then tied at 16, 17, 19 and 20. After UCSB took a 20-21 lead, Ma'a tied it at 21 with a kill. UCLA went up 24-21 after a kill by Stahl and two straight aces by Ma'a. UCSB fought off two match points, but Hatch came through with a kill for the 25-23 win.

Arnitz led UCLA with 12 kills (.364). Stahl had seven kills (.500) and seven block assists. Ma'a finished with 10 digs and 17 set assists. His two aces moved him past Gonzalo Quiroga (39 in 2011) as the all-time school freshman leader in service aces, now with 41 on the year. Smith totaled 15 set assists and four block assists. Davis Gillett added 12 digs. UCLA had a 7-6 advantage in aces and a 9.5-6.0 edge in total blocks.

The Bruins will step away from MPSF play next week with matches against No. 8 Ball State, which has won its last eight matches, on Monday night at 7 p.m. in Pauley, and versus Concordia (Irvine) on Friday night at 7 p.m.