The UCLA men’s volleyball team ended their skid Friday and notched their first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference win of the season.
After losing three of their first four, the No. 8 Bruins (2-3, 1-1 MPSF) defeated No. 9 UC Santa Barbara (2-3, 0-2 MPSF) in a tight contest 33-31, 30-28, 30-28.
“It’s a lot of stress that’s relieved,” junior setter Kevin Ker said. “It starts with winning one game and playing good. Hopefully we can keep it up since we have been in a slump lately.”
Each set went back and forth until a small run by UCLA gave the Bruins the victory.
In the first set, UCLA made a three-point run to go up 27-24 before the Gauchos called a timeout. The score was knotted up at 28-28 before UCSB went ahead 31-30. Junior outside hitter Brett Perrine pounded two kills and a Gaucho hitting error put the Bruins up one set to none.
In the second set, coach Al Scates subbed in freshman Kyle Caldwell at opposite for redshirt freshman Jack Polales.
“Jack started tonight and he was unlucky tonight,” Scates said. “He bounced a few balls at someone’s chest and they dug it but he served well.”
UCLA jumped out to a 15-10 lead but were drawn back within one at 29-28 until Caldwell put a ball down to take the second set.
The third set resembled the second. The Bruins comfortably led 28-23 before the Gauchos countered with four kills. But two more kills by Perrine, who totaled 13 for the night, ended the match.
Besides getting back in the win column, the team looks to have their lineup after mixing and matching players.
“The past couple years it has taken a while to get a good starting lineup,” Ker said. “Usually it takes us halfway through the year. I feel like tonight it’s pretty solid.”
Freshman Jamey Ker has claimed the libero position and passing greatly improved. As a result, the middles were allowed to be a bigger part of the offense as D.J. Stromath and Nick Vogel added six kills apiece.
Despite hitting .347 compared to UCSB’s .350, UCLA kept the errors down and the ball in play on offense, something the coaching staff preached during the week prior to the game. Kevin Ker distributed the ball well to his hitters, racking up 43 assists in three sets.
Junior Garrett Muagututia led the team with 14 kills, hitting .414, and really attacked the blocks with his swings, something Scates was happy about. Serving was much improved in the year’s second match in Pauley Pavilion.
“Our serving really improved,” Scates said. “It’s a lot different in Pauley since we practice in SAC with a much lower ceiling. It’s good to get a couple matches in here.”
The Bruins made 82 percent of their serves and aced the Gauchos seven times with only 16 errors. The team travels to Long Beach State tomorrow night before returning home for a Friday match against UC San Diego.