MPSF Volleyball Update, Jan. 25
Jan. 25, 2017 *# UCLA 3, UC Santa Barbara 0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-20)
Recap by UCLA
The No.2-ranked men's volleyball team rolled to its fifth straight win to open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play in a straight-set victory over No.11 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday night in Pauley Pavilion. Scores of the contest were 25-17, 25-20, 25-20. Junior Jake Arnitz led a balanced UCLA attack with 10 kills and hit .368. Senior Mitch Stahl added six kills (.600), three aces and three blocks. The Bruins outhit the Gauchos .344 to .195 on the night. The same two teams will battle again on Friday night in Santa Barbara at the Thunderdome. UCLA will return home to host Princeton on Sunday evening at 8 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion. Consecutive kills and then a block by Stahl pushed UCLA into a 9-5 lead and helped the Bruins separate from UCSB in set one. The Bruins held a 16-8 edge following an ace by JT Hatch. A Gaucho service error handed the set to UCLA 25-17. UCLA hit .379 for the set. Stahl led off set two with an ace and UCLA quickly moved to a 4-1 lead. UCSB stormed back and took a 6-10 advantage after running off six straight points. An ace by Micah Ma'a evened the score at 14-all. UCLA grabbed a 16-14 lead on kills by Daenan Gyimah and Arnitz. UCSB rallied to even the score at 19s. Kills by Ma'a and later by Hatch helped open up a lead and UCLA took the set on a triple block by Hatch, Ma'a and Gyiman at 25-20. The Bruins hit .357 for the set. The service of Stahl started UCLA on its way again in set three as he staked the Bruins to a 5-0 lead. The Bruins enjoyed margins of 12-5, after a Hatch kill, and 15-10, on a Arnitz attack. UCSB came back to within four, at 22-18, but a couple of Arnitz kills dashed any hopes of a comeback and the Bruins won 25-20. Stahl's three aces place him in a tie for second, with 99, on the all-time rally scoring era school list (from 2001-present) behind only Gonzalo Quiroga, 2011-14, who finished his career with 194. He is tied for eighth on the all-time career list. The senior's three blocks moved him past Chris Pena (2001-04) and Steve Klosterman (2004-07) into fifth place on the all-time rally scoring total blocks list (293). UCLA won the team blocking battle 7.5 to 4.0 with Ma'a and Gyiman tied for the lead with four blocks each. Jackson Bantle topped the team with nine digs. Hagen Smith had four kills and 15 set assists. Hatch finished with six kills and eight digs.
The Bruins are now 7-1 on the season and 5-0 in MPSF action. Coach John Speraw was not on the UCLA sidelines for the match due to the birth of his daughter.
*PEPPERDINE 3, Cal Baptist 1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-14)
Recap by Pepperdine
MALIBU, Calif.: – Michael Wexter plastered a career-high five aces on the leaderboard in Firestone Fieldhouse this Wednesday night, propelling the 9th-ranked Pepperdine men’s volleyball team to the first MPSF win of the season with a four-set win over Cal Baptist. The Waves tabbed 25-20, 23-25, 25-16 and 25-14 set scores to secure the victory.
Along with his aces, Wexter (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West HS) tabbed seven kills, eight digs and three blocks to help the Pepperdine (3-2, 1-1 MPSF) effort.
The Waves were good for a .276 collective hitting percentage with 41 kills on 105 swings. Cal Baptist (2-6, 1-4 MPSF) tabbed 43 kills, but on 129 attempts for a .078 success rate against the home team. Pepperdine smoked down 10 aces, compared to the Lancers three, and produced 12.5 team blocks compared to the opposition’s 4.0.
Redshirt-sophomore David Wieczorek (Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy) had a big offensive night for the Waves, picking up 15 kills on a .314 hitting percentage. He added an ace, six digs and two blocks including one solo rejection.
Senior Mitchell Penning (St. Louis, Mo./Westminster Christian Academy) had a season-high seven blocks, just one shy from tying his career-best, while adding five kills on a .714 success rate and an ace for the home team. Also in double-figure smashes was junior Alex Harthaller (Innsbruck, Austia/Akademischeg Gymnasium/IPFW), who produced 11 on top of a .242 offensive output. Harthaller added two aces, seven digs and three blocks including one solo effort.
Senior setter Joshua Stewart (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory/Pacific) had a big night dishing out plays with 33 assists, and picking up the open drives with seven digs and four blocks. Junior Clay Carr (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) also tabbed three blocks with one solo block.
Cal Baptist began the match with a furry of defensive plays, pulling ahead 6-1 over the Waves. Pepperdine would not sit idly by, however, as the home team closed the gap and with a 14-5 run the Waves were looking at a 15-11 lead. The Lancers were not able to overcome Pepperdine’s strong offensive and defensive attacks and the home team prevailed after an ace by Harthaller and a kill, block, kill sequence from Wieczorek to go up 1-0 on the night.
The second set remained close throughout. Despite an early 4-1 from Pepperdine, Cal Baptist rallied back and tie the match 23-23. A pair of kills gave CBU the set and put the match at 1-1.
The Waves flipped the switch in the third set. After a point-for-point start en route to a 13-13 tie, Pepperdine started gaining momentum with a pair of block collaborations from Penning and Wexter to pull ahead 17-13 and put Wexter at the service line. The Illinois native was unstoppable through at five-point sequence that included three consecutive aces and gave the Waves a 22-15 advantage. In the next possession, Pepperdine put senior Max States (Honolulu, Hawai’i/Solimar Academy) at the service line and as he put the Lancers on their heels, Wieczorek delivered the final offensive blows with two kills for the 25-16 win.
In the final set, Pepperdine was confident once again, and after commanding a 9-5 lead to start the set, the Waves refused to slow down. Three blocks propelled the team forward and kills from Penning and Carr put the Waves ahead 17-8. At the 22-14 mark, States entered the match once again and an ace by his effort put the home team in closing position. Pepperdine earned the 3-1 victory with a commanding 25-14 final set victory.
Pepperdine will be back in Firestone Fieldhouse on Saturday, Jan. 28 as the Waves continue MPSF play with a bout against USC at 2 p.m. Follow Pepperdine @PeppVolleyball on Twitter and Facebook for immediate updates and head to PepperdineWaves.com for recaps, results and more.