Princeton’s fans were on their feet for the Tigers’ first set point of the night after a long rally ended in a Bruin hitting error.
Senior opposite/setter Hagen Smith quickly put the ball away to tie the score and followed with another kill two points later to secure the match for the Bruins.
“It got late in the set and we were able to win those points and I think that showed that we were really poised today,” said senior outside hitter Michael Fisher.
The No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball team (9-1, 6-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) swept Princeton (2-3) Sunday by scores of 25-15, 25-23, 27-25.
Coach John Speraw deviated from his typical seven-person lineup in the win, choosing to rely on Fisher and redshirt junior middle blocker Oliver Martin instead of his normal starters, junior outside hitter Jake Arnitz and freshman middle blocker Daenan Gyimah.
The switch proved successful, as Fisher and Martin led the team with eight and seven blocks, respectively. Fisher’s eight blocks ties for the most blocks in a single game this season for UCLA.
“We have a really nice deep team, we know we can go to anybody,” said coach John Speraw. “When a guy like (Fisher) hasn’t played in a while, this is a nice opportunity for him to kick some of the cobwebs off, and I thought he did a nice job, particularly in blocking the ball and serving.”
The Bruins began the night in a dominant fashion, holding the Tigers to a hitting percentage of .120 and winning 25-15.
But the match wouldn’t remain easy for UCLA.
“We were watching film on them, and we knew that they were pretty good but I think they surprised us a little bit,” Fisher said.
The Tigers remained within striking distance throughout the second and third set, and both were decided by only two points.
“It’s always tough to beat a team in three by a lot every time, so we probably got a little lazy from the service line, a little lazy in our passing, and they took advantage of it,” said junior outside hitter J.T. Hatch. “We might have snuck out that last set – they probably should’ve had that from us.”
Hatch led the team in kills with 14, but no other Bruin had more than five. As a team, UCLA hit .271 on the night, significantly below its season average of .357.
Speraw said his team could have done a better job of capitalizing on opportunities when Princeton was out of system.
“They were digging the ball well and they were also getting themselves out of a lot of trouble,” Speraw said. “We would serve the ball really well, they’d get a decent pass out of it, and they’d kill the ball on the first swing, so that’s to their credit.”