MVB Sweeps Past Eagles

The No. 1 UCLA men's volleyball team (10-2, 2-0) hit a season-high .478 and swept Concordia University Irvine (5-4, 0-2) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) match in Irvine on Friday night. Scores were 25-13, 25-20, 25-15. Alex Knight and Ido David led the Bruin attack with 11 kills each. Knight added a team-high eight digs. Guy Genis controlled the nets with six blocks for UCLA which enjoyed a 10.0 to 3.0 edge in total blocks.
 
A kill by Ethan Champlin followed by his ace moved UCLA into an 8-6 first set lead. Merrick McHenry and Knight added kills for a 10-7 advantage. McHenry did not move off until the service line until he had helped the Bruins into a 15-7 lead. Miles Partain, Genis and Champlin combined for a triple block to make it 18-10. David fired off kills for the last three points of the set for a 25-13 win. The Bruins recorded a .667 percentage in the frame.
 
A David kill lifted UCLA into a 7-4 edge to start set two. McHenry's swing handed the Bruins a 12-8 advantage. After CUI closed to 13-12, the Bruins answered with three straight points on a series of Eagle errors. Back-to-back kills by David and Knight pushed the margin up to 18-14. Knight's spike out of the back row upped the gap to 21-16. Champlin's kill finished off the set for a 25-20 win.
 
The Bruins broke a 4-4 tie with four straight points capped off by a Champlin kill. Miles Partain's ace made it 10-5. A Knight kill and a Kevin Kobrine ace left UCLA in front 15-8. Another Partain ace expanded the margin to 20-12. McHenry's spike put UCLA up 23-13. A series of errors finished off the set and the Bruins prevailed 25-15.
 
UCLA outhit the Eagles .478 to .100 and won the battle at the net with 10.0 team blocks to 3.0 for CUI. The Bruins will return home to host to No. 9 Grand Canyon next Thursday (7 p.m.) and Friday (5 p.m.) in a pair of MPSF matches in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.