The UCLA men’s volleyball team picked up its second conference win on Friday at Cal State Northridge in a match that threatened to be a repeat of Wednesday’s upset loss to Long Beach State.
UCLA (6-4, 2-4 MPSF) fought its way past CSUN (5-6, 3-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) in four sets (25-17, 17-25, 25-18, 25-16) to avoid dropping another match to a lower-ranked team.
The first two sets at the Matadome closely mirrored the Long Beach match. After cruising to a comfortable 25-17 win in the opening set, UCLA fell flat in the second, its hitting percentage plummeting from .458 to .056 in the process.
That was as far as they would slide Friday, using a strong blocking front to win the final two sets and hold off CSUN’s upset bid.
“I think the most obvious strength of our game was our net play,” said coach John Speraw. “We blocked the ball quite well and we were able to do a good job being fundamentally sound at how we defended at the net.”
Sophomore middle blocker Mitch Stahl prevented any impeding upset with nine block assists, and, as a whole, the Bruins out-blocked the Matadors 17-7.
“We came out with a better mindset, we were more aggressive, and our passers passed the ball really well,” Stahl said. “We just need to reflect on how we did this, how we studied the game plan, how we interacted on the court, off the court, just really dial in and remember how this feels and come out every night like this.”
Each team came into the match trending in very different directions. Unranked CSUN defeated No. 8 UC Santa Barbara two nights prior while No. 9 UCLA fell to No. 11 Long Beach in four mistake-ridden sets.
“It was nice to see that we beat a team that was potentially better than Long Beach,” Speraw said. “I think it was a nice turnaround for us to learn the lessons we could from Long Beach and apply them against Northridge.”
A trio of freshman hitters led the Bruins offensively, paced by outside hitter Jake Arnitz and opposite Christian Hessenauer, who contributed 14 and 13 kills respectively. Outside hitter J.T. Hatch led the team with a .467 hitting percentage but also committed seven service errors.
Both teams struggled from the service line, combining for a total of 47 errors. The Bruins, however, kept their composure and capitalized on Matador mistakes to take the match.
“We brought energy and really good focus. I just hope that we learn that this is what it takes to win,” said redshirt junior middle blocker Trent Kersten. “It takes this much effort, this much focus. It starts from the beginning of the day, how you review, and how quickly you can pick up and execute the game plan.”
UCLA has a few days before it continues conference play. The team returns to Pauley Pavilion for a three-match home stand, starting with No. 8 UCSB Friday.