MPSF Volleyball Update, Jan. 18
Jan. 18, 2017 *UCLA 3, Cal Baptist 0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-22)
Recap by UCLA
UCLA's No.2-ranked men's volleyball team captured its third straight match to open the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) schedule in a 3-0 win over Cal Baptist on Wednesday night in Pauley Pavilion. Scores of the match were 25-21, 25-17, 25-22. UCLA, which was led by the 13-kill effort of junior outside hitter JT Hatch, improved its overall record to 5-1 on the season. The Bruins will now host USC on Friday night at 8 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA took home set one behind the six kills of freshman middle Daenan Gyimah. The Bruins opened with a 4-1 spurt but were caught by the Lancers at 7 and again at 10-all. The serve of sophomore Micah Ma'a led to a 3-0 run and handed UCLA a lead it would not surrender in a 25-21 win. The Bruins hit .619 for the set. Six kills from Hatch helped UCLA secure set two. With the score tied at 8-all, a kill by senior middle Mitch Stahl, a block by Hatch and Stahl and a pair of aces from junior outside hitter Jake Arnitz lifted UCLA into a 12-8 lead. The Bruins then pulled away late in the set for a 25-17 decision. Stahl and Ma'a also had service aces in the set for the Bruins who hit .429. In set three, senior Hagen Smith's kill broke a 5-all tie. Arnitz and Stahl followed with a block and the Bruin had the lead in the set for good. The Lancers closed to two points several times down the stretch, the last at 24-22. However, a big swing from Hatch ended the match at 25-22. Gyimah finished with 10 kills (.750) and a couple of blocks. Smith added three kills, 15 set assists and a block. Senior Jackson Bantle topped the team with six digs. Ma'a totaled 20 set assists and a couple of aces. Arnitz had six kills and a couple of aces. UCLA outhit the Lancers .391 to .234 for the match and won the blocking battle 6.0 to 5.0.
*UCSB 3, Usc 2 (25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-10)
Recap by UCSB
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- No. 12 UC Santa Barbara outlasted visiting USC on Wednesday night, playing their best volleyball of the night in the decisive fifth set to earn a 25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 19-25, 15-10 victory at Rob Gym. As he has done often so far in the young season, senior outside hitter Jacob Delson led the way for UCSB (5-1, 2-1 MPSF) with a career-high 22 kills on .447 hitting and four aces. He turned it up another notch in the fifth game, taking over the match with six kills, an ace, and a block as the Gauchos hit .412 and won the set with relative ease. USC (2-4, 1-2) played well in the even sets and finished with a .299 team hitting percentage, but couldn't recover from a slow start in the fifth. The victory was UCSB's fifth straight against USC at Rob Gym. "We played our best game in the fifth when it counted most, and it was good to see us doing whatever it took to get the W," said UCSB head coach Rick McLaughlin. "We need to improve on our ability to not give up runs of points, and tightening up our serve reception will help a ton. But it was great to see "Deli" take over like he did in game five. He's been playing extremely well." Delson gave the Gauchos a huge lead at the outset of the fifth game, scoring two points off tips and then teaming up with Keenan Sanders for a block to go up 3-0. He would add another kill and an ace off the jump serve to put UCSB up 5-2. USC tried to put up a fight, but a monster Delson spike from the right side gave UCSB it's biggest lead yet at 10-6, forcing a Trojan timeout. The teams would trade the serve until a Henri Cherry-Corey Chavers double-block set up match point, with Cherry going off the top of the block with a quick hit to clinch the win. Though it was the Delson show in the fifth, there were opportunities for other Gauchos to shine earlier in the match. Chavers, a sophomore opposite, had arguably his best match as a Gaucho with career highs in kills (14) and blocks (seven). Middles Keenan Sanders (10 kills in the first three sets) and Cherry (eight kills, five blocks) were also solid, while freshman setter Casey McGarry continued to impress with 49 assists and seven digs. Strong passing helped the Gauchos to a win in set one, as McGarry was able to spread the ball around (Delson and Sanders had five kills apiece) and USC was unable to get more than two points in a row off the serve all game. Both offenses thrived in set two, with UCSB hitting .389 to USC's .444. However, two long serving runs turned a 10-10 deadlock into a 16-12 advantage for the Trojans, and the Gauchos were unable to close that gap by set's end. Outside hitter Lucas Yoder had five of his team-high 17 kills in the frame. UCSB rode Delson (six kills) and Sanders (four kills on four swings) to a relatively easy set three win. Junior outside Hayden Boehle started the decisive run for UCSB with strong serving, leading to two easy kills for Sanders as part of 3-0 run that put the Gauchos up for good at 16-13. Another Delson ace pushed the lead to 20-16, with Sanders eventually ending it on a spike of an over pass. The Gauchos struggled in game four, hitting just .100 and contributing four straight attack errors as part of a midgame 5-0 USC run that created a big cushion at 15-10. UCSB wraps up a seven-match homestand on Friday night against Cal Baptist at 7:00 p.m.
*LONG BEACH STATE 3, Hawaii 2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 33-31, 15-10)
Recap by LBSU
LONG BEACH - The fourth-ranked Long Beach State men's volleyball team rallied after being down two sets to none as the Beach came from behind and handed No. 5 Hawaii its first loss of the season in a five-set thriller (23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 33-31, 15-10) in the 49ers' home opener on Wednesday night at the Walter Pyramid. With the win, LBSU improved to 5-1 on the year and 2-1 in MPSF action, while Hawaii dropped to 5-1 overall and 0-1 in league play. "I'm a big fan of what it took for us to get back into that match and get the momentum that took a lot of grit and a lot of fight," Long Beach State head coach Alan Knipe said. "It wasn't pretty, but there was a heck of a commitment to not give up and not go away easily." Long Beach State was led offensively by the sophomore trio of Kyle Ensing, TJ DeFalco and Josh Tuaniga as the 49ers hit .338 as a team in the contest. Ensing led the way with a season-high 24 kills - just three off of his career-best - while DeFalco also notched a season-best 20-kill effort with 22 on the night. Tuaniga paced the offense with a career-high 67 assists as he set the tone for the Beach offense that saw three 49ers reach double-figures with Bryce Yould (12 kills) rounding out the group. Ensing was also solid on defense with 10 digs to notch his first-double-double of the season. He helped senior libero Andrew Sato set the tone for the backrow as Sato led the team with 13 digs. At the net, Amir Lugo-Rodriguez posted nine blocks (one solo, nine assists), while Ensing and DeFalco each added four. In the first two sets, the Beach came up just short as they dropped 25-23 and 25-21 games, respectively, to Hawaii. LBSU struggled to find its rhythm in the first two frames as they hit .286 in the first set and .143 in the second with a sideout percentage of 60 or lower in both games. After falling down 0-2, Long Beach State made some adjustments and came out determined in the third set as the Beach played hard to avoid the sweep. In the third frame, the 49ers hit .464 (16-3-28) and earned a 25-23 set win. "We made a few adjustments; put Kyle back on the right," Knipe explained. "Unfortunately for the lineup we started, tonight was a serve and passing battle. That's the challenge of playing early in the season. We prepared for a totally different lineup." The Beach fell behind early in the fourth set as Knipe called a timeout trailing 10-5. The break in action allowed the 49ers to regroup and make the adjustments they needed to come out and take a 16-15 edge on the Warriors forcing Hawaii into a timeout. The fourth set saw 14 ties, nine lead changes and 10 set-points as the two teams battled each other until the score was deadlocked at 31-31. The Beach took advantage of a pair of attack errors by the Warriors as they went on to win the fourth set, 33-31, forcing a fifth and deciding game. In that frame, Ensing knocked down nine kills on 16 attempts with just one miscue to hit .500. "Kyle was an enormous part of our success as the match went on," Knipe said. "He was a handful from the front row and the back. He has the ability to play like King Kong and he looked like it in the last three sets. I was impressed with his performance, but not surprised." Ensing continued his hot-hitting into the fifth set as he knocked down five kills on seven attempts with just one error for a .571 attack percentage. The Beach also got three kills from DeFalco as they hit .647 in the frame en route to a 15-10 victory. Hawaii hit .274 in the match and was led by Rado Parapunov's 23 kills. Also in double-figures for the Warriors were Austin Matautia (16 kills) and Patrick Gasman (12 kills). Jennings Franciskovic dished out 58 assists, while Larry Tuileta recorded 12 digs. Long Beach State and Hawaii will face off again on Friday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m., at the Walter Pyramid.