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A balanced attack powers UCLA men’s volleyball to victory in five wild sets against Penn State

By Benjamin Kelly

March 10, 2011 2:43 p.m.

Sometimes, the most dangerous animal is a wounded one, and Thomas Amberg was nothing short of beastly against Penn State on Wednesday despite a fractured finger and split webbing on his left hand.

The junior quick hitter led the UCLA men’s volleyball team, which needed every kill it could scrape together, and the Bruins were able to eke out yet another 3-2 thriller.

Facing a 14-20 deficit in the first set, No. 8 UCLA (12-9, 7-8 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) closed it up with an 11-3 run against Penn State (14-4, 7-1 Big Ten), made possible by some incredible blocking and distributed kills.

“We were way behind,” coach Al Scates said. “You don’t get that kind of win at 14-20; that was amazing. It all came together.”

Four hitters had double-digit kills through the night. Amberg and junior opposite hitter Kyle Caldwell reached 16, while freshman opposite hitter Gonzalo Quiroga hit 15 kills and redshirt junior quick hitter Weston Dunlap was a powerful force, hitting .545 with 14 kills.

In the next set, the Bruins let a 14-11 lead slip away, and the Nittany Lions won the set 26-24. Redshirt junior outside hitter Joe Sunder, a national star, made things tough on the Bruins’ side of the net with his 22 kills.

Amberg then carried the team with a 6-1 run in which his precise serving and four kills led to a 25-20 third-set win. He was left out of Friday’s match against Long Beach State because of his injury, but he said that he had no problem dealing with it.

“It’s not an issue at all,” Amberg said. “The only thing that’s different is having one finger and one thumb left on my left hand. Hitting is the same and blocking is the same.”

After Penn State pulled through with a 25-22 set win to tie up the match, the teams prepared for what would be a wild tiebreaker. Twice, the visiting crowd stood up as the Nittany Lions reached match point, and twice they sat down as the Bruins recovered. A kill from Caldwell locked up the 19-17 fifth-set win and the match.

UCLA relied on new faces across the court for its fourth consecutive win. Redshirt freshman Connor Bannan and redshirt sophomore Scott Vegas played as setters for the team, and redshirt freshman outside hitter Matt Hanley played his first full match in Pauley Pavilion.

“What a match to be in,” Hanley said. “I got in there and came in with a couple shaky errors, but my teammates got me out of it, so it was real nice.”

UCLA hopes to continue its success at home and will face Loyola-Chicago on Friday. The team will then have eight matches left to build on its success until the postseason begins. The Bruins will now look to climb upwards and sustain their newfound energy.

“We’re coming out with a lot more power,” Hanley said. “Everyone’s fired up. You can even see it in practice.”

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Benjamin Kelly
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