MVB Defeats Morehouse College

The No. 1 UCLA men's volleyball team defeated Morehouse College in straight sets in a non-league match held in Atlanta on Friday evening. Scores were 25-8, 25-9, 25-5. J.R Norris led the Bruins with career-best totals of 10 kills and four aces. UCLA improves to 14-3 on the season after hitting over .400 as a team for the fifth time in the last six matches.
 
UCLA moved out to a 7-1 lead at the start to set one. A Merrick McHenry kill put the Bruins up 13-4. Kevin Kobrine's swing upped the lead to 19-7. Back-to-back kills by Cole Ketrzynski gave UCLA a 22-7 advantage. Kobrine finished off the set with a kill for a 25-8 win.
 
In set two, Ido David's kill lifted UCLA into a 11-2 edge. Sam Burgi's kill left the Bruins up 14-5. Norris's spike put UCLA in front 19-7. Ketrzynski's kill ended the set with a 25-9 win.
 
A Brugi kill helped the Bruins jump out to a 7-2 lead to begin set three. Daniel Matheney's kill upped the margin to 14-3. Three Norris kills down the stretch earned a 25-5 win.
 
The Bruins have spent the week in the Atlanta area in support of a nationwide effort to grow the game of boy's and men's volleyball in the United States. The team conducted several youth and coaching clinics for local club, middle school and high school athletes and coaches in the greater Atlanta area. Morehouse College is one of six new HBCU collegiate men's volleyball programs (also Benedict College, Central State University, Edward Watters College, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University) in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) which were started with the assistance of funding grants provided by First Point Volleyball Foundation and USA Volleyball.
 
UCLA will be back in action on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT at Fort Valley State University. The Bruins return to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play next week with a pair of matches against No. 5 USC (16-3). The first meeting between the rivals will be on Thursday night at the Galen Center. The Trojans and Bruins will then move the site of the battle to Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom on Saturday, April 2 at 5 p.m.