MPSF Volleyball Results, Feb.22-24
Photo: Daenan Gyimah, UCLA (Courtesy UCLA Athletics)
Sunday, February 24
*at No. 6 UCLA 3, No. 14 USC 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-22)
Recap by UCLA
The No. 6 UCLA men's volleyball team swept past No. 14 USC behind a strong service game in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) match played on Sunday evening in Pauley Pavilion, presented by Wescom before a crowd of over 3,000 fans. Scores of the contest were 25-21, 25-21, 25-22. UCLA improved its record to 12-4 overall and to 4-0 in MPSF play. Wednesday night, the Bruins and Pepperdine, also 4-0 in MPSF play, will meet in Pauley at 7 p.m. to break the tie for first-place in the league.
In set one, UCLA moved out to a quick 5-2 lead after a flurry of kills from
Brandon Rattray and
Daenan Gyimah. USC battled back to even the score at 10-all. A couple of more kills from Gyimah, sandwiched around an ace from
Micah Ma'a, pushed the Bruins in front 13-10. The Trojans cut the margin to 17-16, but
Sam Kobrine answered with a kill and
Grant Maleskifollowed with an ace for a 19-16 advantage. UCLA led 22-17 after another Ma'a ace and Rattray's fifth kill of the set ended the frame at 25-21. Gyimah finished with six kills and UCLA hit. 520 in the set.
UCLA owned an early 6-3 edge after a block from
Austin Matautia and Maleski. USC caught the Bruins at 10-all. Maleski's kill put UCLA up 16-15. UCLA led 20-17 after a kill from Kobrine. An ace from Rattray made it 22-19. UCLA took the set on a Trojan hitting error by a 25-21 score. The Bruins hit .500 for the set behind seven kills from Rattray.
The third set was even at points four through seven. USC went up 8-10. UCLA quickly tied the score at 10-all. A Rattray kill broke a 14-all tie and UCLA followed with an ace from Matautia and a Maleski/ Ma'a block for a 17-14 edge. USC sliced the gap to 18-17, but UCLA responded with a Gyimah kill and the fourth ace of the match from Ma'a for a 20-17 advantage. The Trojans never moved closer than two the rest of the way and Rattray closed out the match with his 17
th kill for a 25-22 win. UCLA tallied six aces in the set.
UCLA out hit the Trojans .420 to .349 and had 12 aces (one shy of its season best of 13 vs. BYU) to one for USC. It was the fifth time this season UCLA has recorded a .400 hitting percentage for a match. The Trojans owned a 7.0 to 4.5 advantage at the net. Rattray's .583 hitting percentage (17-3-34) was his best of the season. Gyimah totaled 14 kills and hit .722 for the match. Ma'a registered four aces to give him a total of seven matches this season with at least three aces.
Saturday, February 23
at No. 8 Stanford 3, UC San Diego 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-19)
Recap by Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. – Outside hitter Jordan Ewert recorded a match-high 14 kills on .500 hitting to lead No. 8 Stanford in a 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 win over UC San Diego, Saturday, at Maples Pavilion.
Stanford (11-5) hit .478 as a team – its third-highest output of the season. The Cardinal held UC San Diego (6-10) to a .221 attack percentage and out dug the Tritons 27-16.
Junior setter Paul Bischoff controlled the offense with 31 assists to go with five digs, two blocks and a kill. Redshirt senior Kyle Dagostino had a match-best eight digs and three assists.
Playing a rare nonconference match in February, Stanford switched up its lineup starting Eli Wopat at opposite and moving Jaylen Jasper to the left side. Jasper hit .438 with eight kills on 16 swings and just one error while collecting four digs. Wopat turned in six kills on .385 hitting and three digs.
Stanford hit .414 or better in all three sets Saturday. The Cardinal posted a side out rate of 80 percent for the match compared to a 58 percent by the Tritons.
Middle blockers Stephen Moye and Kyler Presho each registered five kills, hitting .833 and .500, respectively. Presho finished with three blocks and two digs, while Moye had two blocks and a dig.
Senior Russell Dervay and junior Mason Tufuga were both utilized as serving subs against UCSD. Dervay notched an ace in the second set, while Tufuga had one in the first and one on match-point to seal the win.
UC San Diego was led by sophomore opposite Collin Shannon, who finished with 13 kills on a .360 attack percentage. Outside hitters Wyatt Harrison and Xander Jimenez both recorded seven kills, but were held to under .200 hitting.
Up next, Stanford plays a home-and-home with No. 9 BYU, beginning Thursday in Provo.
*at No. 9 BYU 3, Grand Canyon 1 (25-16, 21-25, 25-18, 26-24)
Recap by BYU
PROVO, Utah – A furious comeback by the No. 9 BYU men’s volleyball team in set four resulted in a 3-1 (25-16, 21-25, 25-18, 26-24) win for the Cougars over Grand Canyon in the Smith Fieldhouse on Saturday.
Looking to close out the match up 2-1, the Cougars fell behind early in the fourth set, falling behind by as many as eight points at 15-7. But BYU scored the next three points on a kill by Storm Fa’agata-Tufuga and two attack errors by the Lopes to cut into the lead.
Grand Canyon maintained its lead, eventually coming within two points of winning the set at 23-19. But BYU turned on its offense, recording consecutive kills from Gabi Garcia Fernandez, Davide Gardini and Miki Jauhiainen and two more Lope attack errors to go on a timely 5-0 run and set up match point at 24-23.
Grand Canyon would answer to tie the set at 24-24, but a kill by Garcia Fernandez and a block from Gardini and Jauhiainen sealed the win for BYU.
“It was a really good learning experience for our guys to be put in that position at home," BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. "Give all the credit in the world to Grand Canyon for coming into this environment and competing and staying in the match. Storm did a great job coming off the bench for us and providing a spark. A major part of this win tonight was the crowd and the environment here. We want to thank Cougar Nation always for representing and supporting our guys, being loud and crazy and making this a great place to play."
Garcia Fernandez led all players with 20 kills and nine digs as BYU improved to 7-4 on the year. Wil Stanley added 36 assists and Jauhiainen totaled a career-high nine blocks and six kills.
In set one, the two teams stayed close until a quick 5-1 spurt gave the Cougars some breathing room at 17-11. The two teams again traded points until BYU scored the final four points of the set, including a culminating kill by Andrew Lincoln, to give BYU the 25-16 win.
Grand Canyon answered back from the start in set two, quickly taking a 10-5 lead before stretching it out to 21-12. Four kills by Garcia Fernandez helped BYU claw back to within four at 23-19, but a final Lope kill gave Grand Canyon the set, 25-21.
A pair of blocks in the third set and a kill by Stanley gave BYU a 17-12 lead. The Cougars kept Grand Canyon at bay from there, finishing the set 25-18 after a service error and an attack error by the Lopes as part of a night that saw BYU hold Grand Canyon to an .035 team hitting percentage for the match. The Cougars set a new season high with 13.5 total blocks as a team.
BYU will next face Stanford at home in the Fieldhouse on Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. MT. The match will be shown live on BYUtv.
Friday, February 22
*No. 4 Pepperdine 3, at Concordia 1 (23-25, 25-16, 29-27, 25-22)
Recap by Pepperidne
IRVINE, Calif. — After falling in the first set to Concordia-Irvine, the #4 Pepperdine men’s volleyball team rallied back to win the following three sets in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation four set victory on Friday night at the CU Arena. The Waves lost the first set 23-25, but took the following sets with 25-16, 29-27 and 25-22 wins to secure the win.
Pepperdine (11-2, 4-0 MPSF) led the match with a .369 hitting percentage compared to CUI’s (5-12, 1-4 MPSF) .281 output. Three Waves hit for double figures, while two amassed double-doubles and three total also added double digit digs.
Michael Wexter highlighted with 24 kills on a .452 hitting %, as well as 10 digs. Kaleb Denmark also put in a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs and David Wieczorek was good for 22 kills. Robert Mullahey was the primary playmaker for the Waves with 55 assists and eight digs and Noah Dyer added 11 digs.