Different day, different venue, same outcome.
The No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball team (8-1, 6-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) defeated No. 11 UCSB (6-3, 3-3) in straight sets Friday evening by set scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-17. The loss marked the first time this season that UCSB lost back-to-back games.
Having swept the Gauchos only two nights prior, the Bruins continued where they left off.
Two straight aces by senior middle blocker Mitch Stahl pushed UCLA over the hump of tit-for-tat play that characterized the first set to take a 21-19 lead. Then, freshman middle blocker Daenan Gyimah notched his fifth kill of the set to reach set point and put the frame out of reach for UCSB in UCLA’s eventual 25-22 set one victory.
On the night, Stahl recorded a season-high five aces and moved into the No. 2 slot on the UCLA career services aces chart in the rally-scoring era, with 104 in his career and 17 on the season.
By the end of the match, four Bruins hit for over .500 while three of them posted kills in the double-digits during the relative brevity of a three-set game.
Gyimah led the way with 12 kills on a .647 hitting percentage and only one error. Junior outside hitters Jake Arnitz and JT Hatch followed close behind with 11 and 10 kills, on a .571 and .529 hitting percentage, respectively.
Despite Stahl’s season-best serving game, the middle blocker had a less impressive night otherwise. Stahl was only able to record a single kill on six attacks while swinging for a .000 percentage. However, defensively, he contributed with two block assists.
For UCSB, only redshirt sophomore middle blocker Connor Drake was able to swing for over .500 while redshirt senior outside hitter Jacob Delson notched 11 kills to be the only Gaucho in double digits.
However, UCSB became the first team this season to outblock UCLA, one-upping the Bruins 5-4.
Up next, UCLA returns home for a match against unranked Princeton on the Jan. 29. When the Tigers visited a year ago, the Bruins defeated them in straight sets en route to their eighth consecutive victory to open the season.