HONOLULU -- Seventh–ranked UCLA made it two in a row in the Islands with a consecutive set win against 12th-ranked Ohio State in a second-round match in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational. Scores of the match were 25-14, 25-23, 25-21. UCLA is now 2-1 on the season and will close out tournament action on Saturday night in a match against the host school, 14th-ranked Hawaii.
UCLA jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the Buckeyes in set one. The Bruins stayed in control throughout, enjoying leads of 8-4 and 19-9 before winning the set 25-14.
In set two, UCLA moved out to a 9-5 advantage. The Bruins owned a 20-14 margin before the Buckeyes mounted a challenge and closed to 21-18 and 24-23. Senior hitter Gonzalo Quiroga’s kill gave the Bruins the set 25-23.
Set three was more hotly contested. The set was knotted up at 7-all and then at 14-all. UCLA grabbed an 18-16 advantage and went on to secure a 25-21 verdict.
Senior Robart Page led the Bruin attack with 12 kills. Quiroga finished with 10 kills, seven digs and five aces. Freshman Michael Fisher put down seven balls in a return to his home state. Trent Kersten and Spencer Rowe had six kills each. Steve O’Dell totaled 38 set assists and three aces.
No. 4 Stanford 3, No. 8 Lewis 1
STANFORD, Calif. -- Fourth-ranked Stanford outscored No. 8 Lewis 15-6 late in the fourth set to defeat the Flyers 25-16, 21-25, 25-19, 25-23 on Friday at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal improves to 2-0 on the year, while Lewis drops to 1-2.
Senior outside hitter Steven Irvin led all players with 20 kills, hitting .400. Junior Daniel Tublin added 12 kills and three blocks. Sophomore setter James Shaw controlled the offense with 44 assists. He also came up with a big block and a kill down the stretch, helping cement the win.
Despite being outhit .306 to .294 and getting edged 9-8 in the block column, the Cardinal found a way to win. Stanford registered 14 aces in the match, including eight in the opening set. Senior Brian Cook and Tublin each put down four for the Cardinal, while Irvin added three.
Sophomore middle Conrad Kaminski finished with seven kills and four blocks, while Cook tallied seven kills and three blocks. Junior libero Grant Delgado had a match-high eight digs.
Lewis was led by junior outside hitter Greg Petty, who totaled 15 kills on a .385 attack percentage. Eric Fitterer added 11 kills, six digs and two blocks for the Flyers.
No 5 Southern California 3, UC San Diego 0
LOS ANGELES -- Alex Slaught had a match-best and career-high 14 kills to help No. 5 Southern California open its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation schedule with a 25-17, 25-23, 25-22 victory against UC San Diego in the Trojans' home opener on Friday at USC's Galen Center.
USC improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the MPSF, while the Tritons fell to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Freshman Lucas Yoder added 13 kills while hitting .706 for the Trojans who hit .404 as a team. Maddison McKibbin and Andy Benesh each had 8 kills, with Benesh hitting at a .583 clip. Henry Cassiday had a match-high 9 digs, while Micah Christenson had 8 digs and 3 aces (all consecutively in the middle of the third set).
For UCSD, Matthew Schnitzer had 6 kills (hitting .556) and 5 blocks off the bench, while Scot Metzger also had 6 kills. Mike Brusting had 7 digs.
The Tritons, who hit just .205, were outdug by USC 30-17.
USC hit .704 in the first set and scored 4 out of 5 mid-match points to open a 13-9 lead it never relinquished. The Trojans jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the second set, but UCSD crawled back to tie it at 22-22 before USC tallied the set's final 3 points. UCSD kept it close in the third set, trailing just 23-22 before USC was able to close it out.
No. 6 Pepperdine 3, No. 3 UC Irvine 1
MALIBU, Calif. -- Sixth-ranked Pepperdine toppled No. 3 UC Irvine 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19) in the Mountain Pacific Conference opener for both teams at Firestone Fieldhouse Friday.
Hot-hitting Josh Taylor and Parker Kalmbach carried Pepperdine (1-0, 1-0). Taylor recorded a match-high 24 kills, hitting .486 with six digs, while Kalmbach totaled 18 kills at a .469 hitting clip with four blocks. Kyle Gerrans added nine kills and Nikola Antonijevic blocked a match-high eight balls.
The Anteaters (3-2, 0-1) were led by opposite Zack La Cavera with 10 kills. Outside hitters Travis Woloson and Connor Hughes added eight kills, while middle blocker Scott Kevorken had a season-high seven kills and four total blocks. Middle blocker Collin Mehring and outside hitter Jeremy Dejno each added six kills with Mehring posting a team-high five blocks. Michael Brinkley led the Anteaters with nine digs.
No. 9 BYU 3, Cal State Northridge 0
PROVO, Utah -- Taylor Sander and Matt Underwood combined for a total of 24 kills to lead the No. 9 BYU to a sweep (25-23, 25-22, 25-15) against Cal State Northridge on Friday.
Sander added two service aces, and Underwood finished the match with a .389 clip. Underwood's 10 kills and four blocks were both career highs. Devin Young added five kills, while Josue Rivera recorded three kills of his own. Tyler Heap finished with a career-high 37 assists.
BYU is 1-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference play after Friday’s win in the conference home opener.
