MVB Drops Decision at BYU

The No. 8 UCLA men's volleyball team suffered its first loss of the new season on Saturday afternoon in Provo, Utah at the hands of top-ranked BYU. Scores of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) match were 16-25, 21-25, 17-25.

The Cougars out hit UCLA .406 to .152 for the contest and owned the nets with a 8.5 to 4.0 advantage in total blocks. Austin Matautia, with nine kills, and Ethan Champlin, with seven, paced UCLA's offense. The Bruins will take a 2-1 record into next week's match on Feb. 13 in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom against USC (0-0) after splitting the pair of matches with the Cougars.
 
After UCLA took an early 3-2 lead on a block by Matautia, BYU outscored the Bruins 2-8 to go up 6-10. The margin was cut to 11-14 after a kill by Daniel Matheney. The Cougars answered with four of the next five points to take a 12-18 lead. UCLA never pulled closer than five the rest of the set and lost 16-25. The Bruins hit just .034 for the set and had four service errors.
 
UCLA went down 1-4 to begin the second set. A Matautia kill brought UCLA to within one, at 9-10. Sam Kobrine's block left the Bruins trailing 12-13. After BYU scored the next three points for a 12-16 edge, UCLA answered with a 6-2 run and evened the score at 18 on a Champlin swing. Kyle Vom Steeg's kill tied the score at 19-all, but the Cougars responded with the next three points. A Matheney kill made the score 20-22, but it could not spark one last rally and BYU prevailed 21-25.
 
In set three, UCLA moved in front 5-2 following a kill and an ace from Champlin. BYU came back to even the score at eight with block. A 2-5 Cougar run put the home team up 10-13. UCLA still trailed by three, at 12-15, after a Matautia kill. BYU added on the next three points to take control of the set and went on to win 17-25. The Cougars hit .824 with 14 kills and no errors for the frame.