UCLA
Pepperdine
Bruins Stop Waves in Three Sets
February 20, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 3-ranked men's volleyball team defeated No. 9 Pepperdine in straights sets in an MPSF match played on Friday night in Malibu. Scores of the contest were 32-30, 25-21, 25-19. UCLA improved its records to 13-2 and 9-2 on the year, equaling its win total from last season.
Sophomore Jake Arnitz led the way for the Bruins with 16 kills, while hitting .556. Two of his kills came on points 31 and 32 in set one. UCLA rallied from deficits of 9-13 and 13-18 to win the initial set 32-30. The Bruins tallied six straight points after falling behind 13-18 to take a 19-18 lead on the fourth kill of the sequence by JT Hatch. The score was then even at points 20 thru 23. UCLA took a 24-23 edge after a block by Oliver Martin. Pepperdine came back with the next two points and then it was the Bruins turn to fight off a series of set points before Arnitz delivered the deciding blows.
UCLA fell behind 3-8 in set two only to once again rally their way back into contention. Arnitz' kill evened the score at 12-all. A Micah Ma'a kill lifted UCLA into a 13-12 lead. A kill by Mitch Stahl made it 20-17 and a Martin kill was good for a 22-18 advantage. The Bruins took control from there for a 25-21 win.
The Bruins opened up a 10-4 margin in set three and maintained their edge, taking leads of 14-7 and 17-11 on the way to a 25-19 win.
Ma'a had 11 kills (.384), and six digs for the Bruins who hit .312 for the match. Stahl totaled four block assists and a pair of aces. Hagen Smith had 20 set assists, an ace and three block assists. Hatch finished with six kills. Pepperdine hit just .145 for the contest.
UCLA will now travel up to play at No. 4 Stanford (10-2, 8-2) on Sunday morning. First serve is at 11 a.m. The match will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
