The No. 8 UCLA Bruins simply could not match No. 3 Pepperdine and their top-ranked offense last night at Pepperdine in Firestone Fieldhouse.
The Waves (8-1, 7-1) swept the Bruins (7-7, 4-4) in just 91 minutes, 31-29, 30-26, 30-25, in what was the Bruins’ third match of a four-match road trip.
The Bruins played without junior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia, who has been one of the Bruins’ most prolific attackers this season, against the high-powered Pepperdine offense.
Muagututia has been out with an ankle sprain since last Friday night’s loss against Lewis University.
“We missed Garrett Muagututia a lot tonight,” coach Al Scates said. “He has been our best player on the road, probably for several years now.”
Scates added that his team has been struggling with two starters, sophomore libero Tom Hastings and sophomore quick hitter Weston Dunlap, also out.
Muagututia’s 3.03 kills-per-set average was sorely missed as the Bruins were unable to match the offensive efficiency of their area rivals.
“With three starters out, (the struggle) is pretty major,” Scates said.
“It was just too much to ask them to beat this team tonight.
“Pepperdine is probably the best team we have played so far,” Scates said.
Led by senior opposite Paul Carroll and his 19 kills and 0.357 clip, Pepperdine’s entire offense registered a 0.342 hitting percentage against the Bruins.
An Australian native and Australian national team member since 2005, Carroll has been something of a problem for the entire MPSF, blowing opponents away with his 70 mph serves.
“(Carroll) is just a good player,” Scates said.
“It’s still tough to keep him under 0.300,” he added.
The Firestone Fieldhouse gym, Scates added, has low rafters which make digs difficult for visiting teams.
Stepping up on the road, freshman libero Jamey Ker contributed in what Scates called his best digging performance of his career.
Scates also praised the road play of senior setter Matt Wade, freshman quick hitter Nick Vogel and redshirt freshman Jack Polales.
Vogel and Polales came off the bench to give the Bruins’ offense a much-needed boost.
They combined for 14 kills and only one hitting error.
The teams remained close throughout the first set, with the largest margin being a 21-16 UCLA lead.
After a Pepperdine timeout, the Waves started chipping away at UCLA’s advantage until the Waves took their first lead of 29-28 before closing out the set.
Pepperdine led almost the entire second set. After the Bruins closed the gap to 21-20, the Waves went on a 9-5 run to take the second set.
The third set played out similar to the second, with the Bruins unable to put together a late-game rally for a win.