Bruins Put Down by Gauchos in Four Sets

The No. 10 UCLA men's volleyball team dropped a four-set decision at No. 9 UC Santa Barbara in an MPSF match on Friday night. Scores of the contest were 14-25, 25-22, 16-25, 20-25. UCLA is now 10-8 on the season and 6-8 in the MPSF.

Christian Hessenauer led UCLA with 17 kills. Also in double digits were J.T. Hatch, with 13, and Michael Fisher, with 10. The Bruins were outhit by UCSB .134 to .340 for the match. The Bruins totaled 33 hitting errors and had 15 service errors.

The Bruins went down 1-9 in the first set. A pair of Hessenauer kills pulled UCLA to 9-15. However, the Gauchos tallied the next three points on their way to a 14-25 win. The Bruins hit .000 for the set with eight errors.

UCSB scored the first three points of set two. UCLA fought back to even the score at 6 after a couple of Gaucho attack errors. The Bruins went up 8-7 after a Mitch Stahl kill. A Hessenauer kill and a couple more Gaucho errors made it 11-8. Santa Barbara closed to 13-11, but a couple of Hatch kills lifted the Bruins to a 15-11 lead. UCSB got to within two at 19-17 and 23-21. UCLA answered with swings from Hessenauer and Hatch for a 25-22 win.

The score was even early in set three. A Hatch kill handed UCLA a 7-5 edge. UCSB tied the score at 9-all and then registered four straight points for a 9-13 advantage. Hessenauer and Hatch once again delivered with kills to cut the deficit to 11-13. However, the home team scored five of the next six points to take control and went on to win 16-25.'

Set four began as a back-and-forth affair. Hatch's kill gave UCLA a 5-4 lead. A kill by Stahl made it 7-5. Fisher's kill pushed UCLA into a 11-9 lead. Santa Barbara then made its move and tied the score at 12-all. The Bruins went down 12-14 and battled back to 17-18 on a kill from Oliver Martin. UCSB pulled away and recorded a 20-25 decision.

Hessenauer added seven digs in the match. Hatch totaled a career-best 10 digs. Fisher had three block assists and a service ace. UCSB outblocked the Bruins 11.5 to 6.0 in total blocks.

UCLA takes a break for exams and will be back in action on Mar. 26 at Cal Baptist and Mar. 28 at USC.