Match Stats
- #6 UCLA def. UC San Diego 3-1, (25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21)
- UCLA improves to 11-7, 8-6 MPSF
- UCSD falls to 5-11, 2-9 MPSF
- Hosted by UCSD
- Match results
The #6 ranked UCLA men’s volleyball team finally gets a groove going to pick up their first win in three matches over UCSD in four.
In the first set, the Bruins took a quick lead and kept hold of it the entire set going on runs to keep the distance in score, finally finishing 25-19. The second set started much the same, but UCSD was able to stay closer, giving UCLA a battle to take the set at 25-21.
In the third set, UCSD took command early taking advantage of Bruin errors. The Tritons held a lead of 12-7, but UCLA went on a 7-3 run making it a tight 15-14 set. UCSD kept control of the set, ending the third on a service ace making the score 25-22.
The Tritons kept the third set momentum going forward taking a 6-1 lead. A string of plays from Daenan Gyimah took the Bruins within one at 8-7. The Bruins were able to pull ahead and keep the lead after an ace from Micah Ma’a, taking the set and match at 25-21.
Leading UCLA was Christian Hessenauer with 15 kills and eight digs on the match. Dylan Missry was dominate from the service line, putting down four aces, 11 kills and seven digs. Ma’a dished out 55 assists while Gyimah blocked five balls.
For UCSD Ian Colbert and Tanner Syftestad each put down 14 kills.
Press Release
Courtesy of UCLA Athletics
No. 6 UCLA topped the UC San Diego Tritons in four sets in an MPSF match played on Saturday night in San Diego. Scores of the contest were 25-19, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21. Christian Hessenauer led a balanced Bruin attack with 15 kills and a team-high 8 digs. UCLA is now 11-7 overall and improves to 8-6 in league play. Next up is a home non-league match on Mar. 8 vs. No. 5-ranked Lewis.
In set one, UCLA broke open a close battle and moved ahead 8-6 after a kill by Dylan Missry. A Missry ace made it 11-7 and another kill by the New York native made it 16-12. Hessenauer connected for a 21-16 advantage. Another Missry ace lifted the Bruins into a 22-16 edge. Hessenauer’s kill terminated the set with a 25-19 win.
The Bruins took a 4-2 lead in set two after an ace by Jake Arnitz. An Oliver Martin kill made it 7-5. The Bruins went on to lead by two at 11-9 and then at 17-15 after a Missry ace. Jackson Bantle‘s ace extended the lead to 23-20. Hessenauer followed with a kill for point 24. The Bruins captured the set after a Triton service error.
UC San Diego took control of set three early after jumping to leads of 4-8 and 5-10. After the Tritons owned a 7-12 lead, UCLA rallied for three straight points on a kill by Daenan Gyiman and two spikes from Missry. A Hessenauer kill narrowed the gap to one at 14-15. The Bruins cut the lead to one at 20-21, 21-22 and 22-23 but could not get even. The Tritons took the set on a service ace.
In set four, the Tritons kept the early momentum and grabbed a 1-6 lead. An error and a couple of plays by Gyimah helped slice the gap to 4-6. An ace from Gyimah made it 7-8. An ace by Micah Ma’a put UCLA ahead at 10-9. The score was then even at points 10 thru 15. A service error, kill by Arnitz and a Ma’a kill keyed a Bruin run for an 18-15 advantage. Eric Sprague‘s kill made it 22-19. Gyimah then tallied the remaining points on a couple of kills and a block for a 25-21 win.
Missry finished with a career-best four aces to go with 11 kills and a .444 hitting percentage. Arnitz added 12 kills and hit .400. Gyimah totaled nine kills and hit .667. Sprague had five kills and hit .833. Davis Gillett recorded six digs. UCLA out aced the Tritons 8-5 and out hit their hosts .475 to .374. UCSD won the blocking battle 8.0 to 7.5.
Press Release
Courtesy of UCSD Athletics
The University of California San Diego men’s volleyball team won the third set and ran out to a 6-1 lead in the fourth to worry No. 6 UCLA before falling in four at RIMAC Arena on Saturday night. Scores were 25-19, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-21.
UC San Diego fell to 5-11 overall and 2-9 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). The Tritons have lost six straight. UCLA put an end to a three-match losing skid and moved to 11-7 overall and 8-6 in league play. The Bruins had won the season’s first meeting, 3-0, in Los Angeles on Jan. 14.
UCSD’s third-set triumph put an end to a string of 30 consecutive set defeats against UCLA, since game four of a 3-2 Bruin victory in Santa Barbara on Jan. 4, 2013.
Tri-captains Tanner Syftestad (.406) and Ian Colbert (.300) shared the team high for UCSD with 14 kills apiece. Syftestad has now held at least a share of the Tritons’ high over the past 12 contests, the junior also contributing five digs, three blocks, one assist and an ace. Colbert’s total was a season best. He added a team-high six digs. Junior setter Milosh Stojcic collected 36 assists en route to directing UCSD to a .374 (43-9-91) hitting percentage with single-digit attack errors.
Colbert’s line on offense for the first frame was 5-0-6 without an error, with the statistical oddity of the two teams combining for exactly zero blocks. A 4-0 Bruin run around the first timeout of the evening sent the visitors on their way, up 12-7. UCLA (.778) and UCSD (.647) both hit at blistering rates, with just one mistake each.
UCLA went up 5-2 early in the second, with the Tritons catching up at 15-15 on a kill by redshirt sophomore middle blocker Drew Sloane that came as a result of a strong serve by freshman Devin Pontigon (Oceanside/El Camino HS). The Bruins notched five of the next six, however, to help grab a 2-0 lead in sets.
Game three was just about all UCSD, as the home side trotted out to an 8-4 advantage to force a first timeout for the contest by John Speraw, the current head coach of the Olympic bronze medalist U.S. national team. A cross-court Syftestad kill made it 10-5, and a solo denial by Stojcic took it to 18-14 at the second Bruin timeout. Stojcic later dumped a Syftestad set as roles were reversed, to push the Tritons to set point. Redshirt sophomore Luke McDonald came on as a serving substitute and promptly unleashed his second of two aces.
Despite that 6-1 early edge in the fourth that caused another Speraw timeout, UCSD was unable to hold on to force a decider. The Bruins tied it at 9-9, with their third triple block of the match knotting it again at 13-13. A 3-0 mini-run broke one final tie score of 15-15, and the Tritons could get no longer than two the rest of the way.
Senior Josh Schmidt, in just his third appearance this season after recovering from injury, spent the entire night at the libero position as true freshman Ryan Lew was forced to miss a second consecutive match due to illness. Schmidt had four digs.
Christian Hessenaur wound up with match highs of 15 kills and eight digs for UCLA. Jake Arnitz (12) and Dylan Missry (11) also reached double figures in kills, with Missry also serving four aces to go along with seven digs. Freshman phenom Daenan Gyimah had nine kills on .667 hitting and led all with five blocks. Setter Micah Ma’a was spectacular at times and dished out 55 assists in total while also producing five kills on five attacks.
UCSD embarks on a season-long four-match road stretch, beginning Wednesday night, March 1, at No. 11 CSUN. First serve at The Matadome is set for 7 p.m.
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