Bruins felled by Tigers in home opener despite early lead
Freshman outside hitter Alex Knight played in his first home match for No. 8 UCLA men’s volleyball. He led the Bruins with 15 kills as they lost in their 2020 home opener. (Samuel In/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Men's volleyball
| No. 13 Princeton | 3 |
| No. 8 UCLA | 1 |
By Jake Greenberg-Bell
Jan. 31, 2020 1:21 a.m.
The Bruins couldn’t replicate their first set success.
No. 8 UCLA men’s volleyball (4-3) fell to No.13 Princeton (3-4) in four sets Thursday night by scores of 19-25, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-23, in the Bruins’ home opener in Westwood.
Coach John Speraw said he was disappointed in both the effort and focus of the team.
“We had an opportunity to come in here, play at home for the first time and we just couldn’t maintain the focus and it’s very disappointing,” Speraw said. “We had an opportunity to play so much harder and we didn’t tonight. … I’m just disappointed.”
In the first set, UCLA raced out to an early lead, after senior outside hitter Austin Matautia served an ace to put the Bruins up 5-2. UCLA committed seven service errors in the first set, but won it to go up 1-0 in the match.
But UCLA wouldn’t win a set after that. In the second set, the Bruins’ hitting percentage decreased from .500 to .227. Freshman outside hitter Alex Knight hit a season-high 15 kills and said that he felt Princeton’s success in the second set was more a result of UCLA’s mistakes.
“I was happy with the first set but I think we got a little bit flat in the second,” Knight said. “They put a different lineup in, but I think all the mistakes came on our side. We lost a lot of focus, we missed plays we know we can get and missed some serves down the stretch. … They didn’t change much up, we just let them have it.”
While Princeton won the second set 25-22, its hitting percentage decreased from .273 to .231.
Last time UCLA faced Princeton on Jan. 6, UCLA recorded a season-high 35 service errors and still won the match in five sets. On Thursday night, the team committed 23 service errors, nine of which came in the third set, a set which was tied at 11-11, but the Bruins eventually lost 25-22.
Matautia said small margins can make a difference for the Bruins.
“Every single point matters and we have to be dialed in for every point because we lost those last three sets within two three points,” Matautia said. “Two or three points is not a lot, but in this case it is, because we lost the game.”
In Sunday’s win against Ohio State, Speraw used a total of 10 players, but tonight he went deep into his bench and played 14. In the fourth set, 10 players were featured, but four of them hadn’t seen playing time in the match prior to their appearance.
Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Ian Parish made his second appearance of the season and recorded his first kill since Jan. 2.
“Parish is a guy that is literally toed up, screaming, yelling the whole time and our team needs some energy,” Speraw said. “He deserved to go in and that’s why I put him in, and we need more of that from everybody.”
The Bruins led the fourth set by 11-17, their largest lead since the first set. Then, the Tigers used a pair of five- and four-point runs to take the lead and win the set 25-23 to clinch the match.
UCLA will return to the court Saturday, when it takes on undefeated No. 4 Long Beach State on the road at 7:30 p.m.
