LOS ANGELES – The Penn State men's volleyball team concluded its 2019 Big Ten/Pac 12 Challenge Saturday evening with loss in straight sets to the fifth-ranked UCLA Bruins at USC's Galen Center.
Penn State dropped to 8-10 overall with the loss. The Bruins record improved to 16-4.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- The Bruins started out hot with an 8-3 lead before Brett Wildman cut the deficit to 8-4 on a kill. Jason Donorovich had a solo block on the next point for the Nittany Lions.
- With the score 11-7 UCLA, the Bruins five of the next six points thanks to a pair of kills and a pair of blocks to force Penn State to call timeout at 16-8.
- UCLA managed to hold the Nittany Lions away by a significant margin for the rest of the set. The Bruins hit .750 for the set compared to the Nittany Lions' .056.
- Set Score: UCLA 25-12
- Match Score: UCLA 1-0
Second Set
- UCLA took another 8-4 lead early in the second set behind three points in a row before Canyon Tuman's kill stopped the run.
- A solo block by Henrik Falck Lauten cut the deficit to two at 13-11. Penn State got even closer when a Bruin service error pulled the Nittany Lions within one at 15-14.
- After a Wildman ace, UCLA bounced back with a pair of kills to lead 19-16 and forced a Penn State timeout.
- The Bruins scored four of the next five and never looked back to win the set by six.
- Set Score: UCLA 25-19
- Match Score: UCLA 2-0
Third Set
- Penn State scored its first seven points of the third set on six kills and a block. Cal Fisher and Falck Lauten each had a pair of kills during the stretch.
- A Donorovich service ace knotted the score 11-11.
- Another kill by Fisher gave Penn State a 16-15 lead, but the Bruins took the next three points via a kill and two Penn State mishaps to lead 18-16.
- UCLA worked its way to 23 points before a kill by Brett Wildman and a service ace by Falck Lauten made the Bruins take a timeout after the Nittany Lions cut the deficit to two.
- UCLA took the next two points out of the timeout to complete the sweep.
- Set Score: UCLA 25-21
- Match Score: UCLA wins 3-0
STAT STANDOUTS
- Brett Wildman led the Nittany Lions for the second-straight night in the kills category with eight while hitting .286 (8-4-14). He also added one of the Nittany Lions' three service aces along with three digs in his third start of the season.
- Henrik Falck Lauten had six kills while hitting .200 (6-3-15) along with an ace and a solo block.
- Cal Fisher came off the bench for the Nittany Lions and had five kills on 12 swings (.167, 5-3-12). He also had a team-best four digs.
- The Bruins held a significant edge in hitting percentage with a .530 mark (42-7-66) to the Nittany Lions' .117 (24-17-60).
- UCLA's Daenan Gyimah led all players with 11 kills on 15 swings without an error (.733). He also led all players with three total blocks.
NEXT UP
- The Nittany Lions take another road trip, this time to Indiana, to take on Purdue-Fort Wayne and Ball State March 15-17.