MPSF Volleyball Update, Jan. 12
Jan. 12, 2017 MPSF Update-Jan. 12
*UCLA 3, UC Irvine 0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-22)
Recap by UCLA Sports Information
No. 2-ranked UCLA opened its MPSF schedule by handing No. 7 UC Irvine its first loss of the season in a sweep on Thursday night in Pauley Pavilion. Scores of the match were 25-16, 25-18, 25-22. The Bruins hit .395 for the match and were led by freshman middle blocker Daenan Gyimah's 14 kills. UCLA is now 3-1, 1-0 on the season. UCI falls to 5-1 and 2-1 in MPSF play. Next up for the Bruins is UC San Diego on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Pauley.
In set one, UCLA opened up a 7-4 lead after a Micah Ma'a kill. UCI evened the score at 8-all. UCLA regained their edge for good at 12-11 on a Gyimah kill and then used a run of six straight points to run out to a 20-13 advantage behind the serve of Ma'a and a series of Irvine errors. UCLA closed out the set at 25-16 on a kill by JT Hatch. The Bruins hit .360 to Irvine's .071 mark for the set.
UC Irvine moved to a 4-7 advantage in the second set. UCLA came back to even the score at 9-all on a block by Hatch and Gyimah. A Hatch kill handed the Bruins a 17-14 lead. Jake Arnitz' kill capped off a Bruin run for a 22-16 margin. A UCI service error ended the set at 25-18. UCLA hit .536 for the set with one error on 28 swings.
In set three, UCLA coasted to an 8-3 lead after a kill by Hagen Smith. UC Irvine fought back to level the score at 12-all and then 17-all. After the visitor's grabbed the lead at 20-21, Gyimah's kill and ace along with another kill by Smith pushed the Bruins out in front by 23-21. UCLA closed out the set at 25-22.
Gyimah hit .737 for the match and tallied a pair of aces and a couple of blocks. Ma'a registered his first three aces of the season and added eight kills (.800) to go with seven digs. Smith totaled 20 set assists and a couple of blocks. Jackson Bantle had seven digs. UCLA won the blocking battle 6.0 to 2.0 and out aced the 'Eaters 7-2 for the match.
BYU 3, McKendree 0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-20)
Recap by BYU Sports Information
PROVO, Utah ââ'¬" Aggressive offensive play helped No. 4 BYU men's volleyball sweep McKendree (25-16, 25-19, 25-20) in its home opener Thursday night at the Smith Fieldhouse. "It's nice to be back in the Smith Fieldhouse and the guys were excited about that," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "I liked how they played from the start. They were assertive and aggressive, and I was happy with how they played." Junior Ben Patch led the Cougar offense with nine kills on a .667 clip while senior Jake Langlois added nine kills and six digs. Tim Dobbert contributed three blocks on defense as Leo Durkin tallied 29 assists in the win. BYU improved to 2-1 overall and McKendree fell to 0-5 on the season. Middle blocker Joseph Grosh put BYU on the board with the first kill of the night. Langlois sparked BYU's offensive rhythm with a pair of kills followed by a kill by Patch to put the Cougars up 9-6. BYU capitalized on a Bearcat attack error to claim a 17-11 lead and force a McKendree timeout. A Storm Fa'agata-Tufuga kill increased the Cougars' advantage to eight as the Bearcats struggled to keep up. A McKendree service error ended the set 25-16 in BYU's favor. Price Jarman and Fa'agata-Tufuga each earned aces to add to BYU's 6-2 advantage at the beginning of the second set. McKendree answered with a kill, and the opponents traded points before the Cougars went on a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 12-5. The Bearcats fought to stay alive as they brought the score within four, but a McKendree miscue gave the Cougars an 18-13 lead. Durkin scored on a back-to-back kill and service ace to put BYU up 22-16. The Cougar defense allowed three more Bearcat points before BYU took the set 25-19 on a Jarman kill. McKendree jumped out to a 4-1 lead to kick off the third set. The Cougars fed off the momentum from a Dobbert kill to secure the next four points and retake the lead, 5-4. Responding with a 4-0 run of their own, the Bearcats had another three-point advantage before Durkin and freshman Miki Jauhiainen teamed up for a block to tie the game at 10 apiece. A Fa'agata-Tufuga kill put the Cougars up by two, 16-14, but McKendree fought back to tie it again. Bearcat errors kept BYU ahead 22-19 before Durkin scored the Cougars' fifth ace of the night for a four-point lead. BYU won the match 25-20 on a Langlois kill. BYU competes against Concordia Irvine Friday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. MST and against McKendree again on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. MST. Friday's match will be streamed live on TheW.tv. while Saturday's match will be broadcast live on BYUtv and simulcast on BYU Radio ââ'¬" Sirius XM 143. There will also be a neutral-site match at noon MST on Friday between Concordia Irvine and McKendree. Admission is free to that match.