The Bruins came up with a solo block on the first point in the game, evidence that they were not about to let an underdog take them down.
The No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball (3-1, 1-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) swept No. 7 UC Irvine (5-1, 2-1 MPSF) by scores of 25-16, 25-18, 25-22.
After a 3-1 loss to No. 1 Ohio State, UCLA bounced back with a quick match in which four Bruins had at least five kills.
“The loss against Ohio just made us hungrier,” said freshman middle blocker Daenan Gyimah. “We all felt it after the game, like, they’re good, but we have the potential to be even better.”
As the scores would suggest, coach John Speraw’s squad was in near complete control for the entirety of the first set, experienced some resistance in the second and went near point-for-point in the third en route to a victory during their home opener.
“It’s nice to be back in Pauley,” said junior outside hitter JT Hatch. “A lot of people contributed, and it was a good solid match.”
Two of the top contributors for the Bruins included Gyimah and sophomore setter/opposite Micah Ma’a. The pair were the top two scorers, notching 14 and eight kills respectively. Their hitting percentages of .737 and .800 more than doubled their next-closest teammate.
“I’m really, really happy with the communication going on on the volleyball court tonight,” Speraw said. “I spent a lot of time tonight listening to what the guys were saying to each other on the court, and in timeouts, and I feel like we’re at a point where a lot of high-level dialogue is going on.”
After only swinging for four aces but 18 service errors against Ohio State, UCLA rebounded with seven aces and 10 service errors Thursday night.
The seven aces stand in stark contrast to UC Irvine’s attempts, as the Anteaters were only able to muster two aces but 11 service errors.
“(Gyimah) went out there and served real tough, including some real nice serves down the stretch,” Speraw said. “He still has a lot of room to improve, he’s still young in the game and young in this league, but that was a really nice MPSF debut to hit that percentage and get that many points for us.”
Up next, UCLA takes on unranked UC San Diego on Saturday. Earlier this month UCSD lost in straight sets to UC Irvine.