Facing a two-game deficit to Stanford, it looked like UCLA was not going to be able to pull off the upset, but the Bruins never let those losses affect them.
No. 8 UCLA (5-5, 3-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) clawed back to sweep the final three games against No. 6 Cardinal (7-4, 3-3) to come away with the win.
“I was glad because we pulled it out in the end,” junior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia said. “We just kept fighting.”
After trading points through the first game, Stanford was able to pull ahead and edge the Bruins out 36-34.
“We didn’t stop them the first game, they hit for very high numbers,” coach Al Scates said. “We hit well every game, but we just couldn’t stop them the first game.”
In the second game, it looked like Stanford might have deflated the Bruin defense, jumping out to an early 9-1 lead and holding the Bruins to as much as 10 behind them. Toward the end of the game however, UCLA began to look like a different team, fighting back to come within three before Stanford closed it out, 26-30. Even though the difference was too large to overcome, the game turned things around for the Bruins.
“They groveled for every point,” Scates said. “We definitely had the momentum the rest of the match.”
The Bruins came out fired up in the third game and took the early lead. They were able to defend a solid margin the entire game, holding the Cardinal to a .116 hitting percentage to take the game 30-21. Scates credits good blocking with the change on the Bruin side, as well as a some key players.
“Of course the story tonight is Nick Vogel,” Scates said. “He was very hot tonight. He played well and got the other players going.”
UCLA was able to keep Stanford on its toes throughout the fourth game, while Muagututia was able to bring down the last three points to secure the 30-27 Bruin victory.
“Garrett had two stuffed blocks, two solo blocks that were crucial to winning that game,” Scates said.
Heading into the fifth game, it was apparent the Bruins had momentum on their side. They jumped out with the lead and never let up, winning 15-11 to seal the Bruin comeback.
“The team has confidence now that they can come back,” Scates said. “We were down 0-2 to a team that’s ranked ahead of us … We keep fighting.”
UCLA faces off against Pacific tomorrow night at Pauley in another MPSF match up. The Tigers are currently in 12th place in the MPSF standings. The Bruins stand in the eighth spot and have already defeated Pacific once this season.