Bruins Fall to Gauchos in Opening Match of Fall Tournament at SAC Gym

UCLA dropped a straight set decision to UC Santa Barbara in Friday's opening match of the Fall Tournament in the SAC (Student Activities Center) on campus. Scores of the contest were 24-26, 23-25, 13-25.

Freshman Christian Hessenauer led the Bruins with eight kills and added a block. Freshman Jake Arnitz added six kills. Junior Trent Kersten and sophomore Michael Fisher each totaled five kills. Fisher collected four blocks and Kersten had two. Freshman Eric Matheis manned the setter position.

In the opening set, the teams battled back and forth until the end. UCLA took a 20-19 lead on a Fisher kill. The Bruins tied the score at 23-all on a block from Fisher and Kersten and again at 24-all after Matheis won a joust at the net. However, the Gauchos came away with the next two points and the set 24-26.

The second set was another hotly contested one. UCSB led early 7-8 before opening up a 10-14 advantage and then building it out to 16-21 to bring a Bruin timeout. Eric Sprague's kill made it 17-21. A Matheis/Kersten block made it 19-22. Fisher's ace pulled UCLA within two at 21-23 but the Bruins could not maintain the momentum and UCSB went on to win 23-25.

Set three was tied at 7-all before the Gauchos took control. UCSB went up 8-13 and 11-20 on its way to a 13-25 win and a sweep.

In Friday's other match,USC d. CSUN 3-2 (25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 25-27, 15-13).

More action is on tap for Saturday in the SAC Gym on the UCLA campus. Free admission.

UCLA Men's Volleyball Tournament

Saturday

9:00am

                Court 1: UCLA vs. CSUN

                Court 2: USC vs. UCSB

2:00pm

                Court 1: UCLA vs. USC

                Court 2: UCSB vs. CSUN