Despite its recent momentum, the UCLA men’s volleyball team failed to beat Hawai’i and clinch the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.
The No. 6 Bruins (17-8, 10-7 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) fell 1-3 to the No. 4 Rainbow Warriors (23-4, 13-4) in the John Wooden Center on Friday. The two teams will play again Saturday in UCLA’s last game of the regular season.
[Related: Men’s volleyball aims for Hawai’i upset, retaining winning streak]
Senior middle blocker Mitch Stahl notched the first three kills for UCLA as the two teams battled for the first set. Although the Bruins jumped ahead early 8-6, Hawai’i’s offensive firepower helped them catch up and take an 11-8 lead.
The Bruins fought to close the gap, tying things eventually at 24. It was a battle to close it out but a block by Stahl and sophomore setter/opposite Micah Ma’a finished the first set 28-26.
Hawai’i middle blocker Hendrik Mol hit 1.00 in the first set with four kills, and continued to challenge UCLA up at the net with four blocks, mostly against Stahl.
“When you get blocked like that, you have to really look in the mirror and think ‘What do I have to do to change?'” Stahl said. “I knew coming into the match that I would have to play with more range, and I didn’t do it.”
Stahl said that Saturday’s game will be a great opportunity to be a better middle, because he said that match-up has been tough for him.
“Our energy wasn’t there. We never really got to the point where we needed to play energywise, mentalitywise,” Stahl said. “It’s frustrating, we had a couple good matches here and came here with some confidence and we just didn’t execute.”
Coach John Speraw switched from a 5-1 to a 6-2 rotation, putting Ma’a in to split time setting with senior setter Hagen Smith.
Set two started in the same fashion, with neither team able to make more than a two-point lead. However, the Rainbow Warriors pulled through to claim the equalizer and finish the second set, 25-23.
“They’re really consistent on the first contact,” Ma’a said. “So it’s tough to beat a team that’s always passing nails and always giving off serving pressure. Just a lot of pressure and a lot coming at you.”
Hawai’i controlled most of the third set, hitting .500 and claiming it 25-21. The Bruins were unable to take away the momentum on the other side of the net.
Things were all tied up at 13 in set four, but the Rainbow Warriors went on a run to put as many as five points between them and their competition.
Two consecutive solo blocks against Bruin hitters got Hawai’i to set point and UCLA watched its seven-game win streak come to an end as it dropped the final set, 25-18.
Kupono Fey led the Rainbow Warriors offensively with 13 kills, and at least six different Warriors posted six kills or more. Junior outside hitter Jake Arnitz notched a match-high 20 kills for the Bruins with a hitting percentage of .395.
“We have to be much better emotionally. We lost focus in the second set,” Speraw said. “Each volleyball match has some ebbs and some flows. How you manage that is really important, and we didn’t do a very good job of handling that well.”
With this win, Hawai’i will enjoy a home court advantage next week in the MPSF quarterfinal round. UCLA takes on Hawai’i a second time Saturday at 7 p.m. in the John Wooden Center.