UCLA Men's Volleyball Downs #15 Lewis in Straight Sets

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

(L-R: sophomore setter Kyle Caldwell, freshman outside hitter Chen Levitan, sophomore opposite hitter Nick Vogel ready for the serve by UCSD on 2/24 - sorry, forgot my camera today)

Our boys are back. The #5 UCLA men's volleyball team came off of two straight-set losses to UC San Diego and Long Beach State to defeat the visiting Lewis University Flyers from Illinois in three straight sets, 30-22, 30-27, 30-25. RS sophomore opposite hitter Jack Polales was in full force today, leading the team with 18 kills and hitting at a .556 clip.

The first set started out with a strong attack by Lewis junior Brian Muesenfechter (whom even the announcer was calling by his nickname Moose) off of a block attempt by Polales. But Polales came back with a kill on the next play to take the ball back. From there the Bruins jumped to a 4-2 lead. But the Flyers caught up and although Polales scored the next three offensive points, UCLA committed some service errors and weren't able to pull away from Lewis until UCLA scored four straight points to take a 4-point lead at 11-7. UCLA dropped the next point but came back to take three more, including a fantastic kill by Polales over Lewis blockers and a block by RS sophomore outside hitter Jeremy Casebeer.

The Bruins played with a lot of passion today, making good digs to keep the ball in play and not making mental errors during long rallies. Kills by Vogel and senior opposite hitter Garrett Muagututia, as well as a service ace by Caldwell and a well-time block by Muagututia and Caldwell, UCLA went on a 10-3 run until Lewis called its second timeout at 21-13. The timeout iced the Bruins for a couple of points but attacks from the back row by Muagututia and cross-court kills by Casebeer, as well as Flyer errors, helped push the Bruins to a 26-19 lead. UCLA stayed sharp, executing blocks and kills, and although the number of service errors remained high, Polales pounded in a kill to take the set, 30-22.

The second set started out close, with both teams matching each other error for error, kill for kill, block for block. Polales, Casebeer, Muagututia, and RS sophomore quick hitter Weston Dunlap all contributed with kills, blocks and dinks, but a couple of Bruin errors and Flyer kills gave Lewis the biggest lead of the night at 23-19. After a UCLA timeout, I don't know what Coach Scates said to them, but the Bruins went on a 6-0 run, including a service ace and two kills by Polales, a solo block by Casebeer and two Flyer errors. Although Lewis fought back with quick hits by senior Mike Iandolo and RS sophomore Matt Gallik, Flyer service errors kept the Bruins ahead. Caldwell pushed away a Flyer dink into their court, and faked a set to sneak in a kill to score the last two offensive points. A Flyer attack error gave the set to the Bruins, 30-27.

The third set began with the Bruins trailing but they quickly caught up thanks to a resounding cross-court kill by Muagututia after a long rally of spikes and digs. A service ace by Casebeer and a Flyer error gave UCLA a lead at 7-6, and they never gave it up. Quick hits by Muagututia and sophomore Thomas Amberg, a kill by Polales and blocks by Muagututia and Polales allowed the Bruins to widen the lead to 14-10. Despite a few attack and service errors, the Bruins continued to rack up points, including a 6-0 run that took the Bruins to a 25-16 lead. Lewis took the next three points but Coach Scates called a timeout, and on the next play Polales smacked down a kill to take the point back. Dunlap's quick hit after a long rally and a block by Muagututia, along with a Lewis error took the Bruins to match point, 29-22. Lewis went on a mini-run again but again, after a timeout called by Coach Scates, the Bruins finished off the set and match with a kill by Dunlap, 30-25.

It's so good to get a win, even if it's against a non-conference, division II team. The team was much more together today, with very few players substituting in and out, apparently a factor in last weekend's loss to Long Beach State. Although the 21 service errors were troubling, the Bruins put up an incredible 14.5 blocks, compared with 4 for Lewis.

The parents' section was awesome today, loudly cheering on the Bruins and breaking out into the 8-clap during timeouts. After the game one parent (I presume) exclaimed, "Welcome back!" There's still work to be done but my sentiments, exactly.

With this win, UCLA improves to 10-8 (9-6). The next game is on Friday, March 5 at 7 pm at Pauley, where they will host #12 UC Irvine. Go Bruins!