UCLA
Stanford
Bruin MVB Falls in Four
February 21, 2016 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 3-ranked men's volleyball team dropped a four-set decision on Sunday at No. 4 Stanford. Scores of the contest were 21-25, 25-20, 22-25, 20-25. Jake Arnitz led four UCLA players in double-digit kills with 14.
Set one was close all throughout the early stages and was tied at 17-all. Stanford then tallied three straight points for a 17-20 edge. UCLA closed to 18-20 after a kill by JT Hatch, but the Cardinal quickly pulled back out to a 19-23 lead. A Micah Ma'a kill narrowed the gap to 20-23, but the home team soon closed out the set 21-25.
In set two, UCLA scored four straight points to break a 12-all tie on a series of Cardinal errors. UCLA still led 18-14 following a kill by Mitch Stahl and Stanford never moved closer than two points the balance of the set. An Arnitz kill made it 23-19 and Hatch's kill ended the set at 25-20. The Cardinal hit just .125 for the set.
UCLA got down early in set three, at 4-7. It trailed 15-17 before rallying to level the score at 17. A kill by Arnitz tied it up at 22-all, but the Cardinal registered the final three points of the set.
The Bruins jumped out to the early lead in set four, taking a 3-0 lead after a block by Oliver Martin and Hagen Smith. Stanford came back to go up 6-7. Ma'a tied it at 8-all after a kill. The score was tied at 13 after a Smith kill. UCLA went ahead 15-14 but it was the last lead of the set. A Stahl kill sliced the Cardinal advantage to 17-18 which was as close as the Bruins would come. Stanford won the set 20-25.
Arnitz had 14 kills (.226), two aces and seven digs. Hatch added 12 kills (.250) and seven digs. Ma'a finished with 11 kills (.308), two aces and seven digs. Martin out down a season-best 11 kills (.688). The Cardinal out hit the Bruins .400 to .320 for the match and hit at least .400 in each of the three sets it captured. Stanford won the block battle 9.0 to 7.0 and out aced the Bruins six to five.
The Bruins will be back home in Pauley on Wednesday night to face No. 15 Cal Baptist at 7 p.m. UCLA travels to play at USC on Saturday night at 8 p.m.
