Friday, March 29, 2024

AdvertiseDonateSubmit
NewsSportsArtsOpinionThe QuadPhotoVideoIllustrationsCartoonsGraphicsThe StackPRIMEEnterpriseInteractivesPodcastsBruinwalkClassifieds

UCLA men’s volleyball celebrates victory over Concordia University Irvine

Sophomore outside hitter Ethan Champlin goes up for an attack against a Concordia University Irvine block Wednesday. Champlin finished with a game-high 15 kills and a career-high six service aces in No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball’s victory over the Eagles. (Jenny Xu/Daily Bruin)

Men’s volleyball


Concordia University Irvine1
No. 1 UCLA3

By Bryan Palmero

Feb. 24, 2022 1:27 p.m.

The Bruins tallied 27 service errors and 21 attack errors Wednesday – both season highs.

But even with the errors, the blue and gold came out with the victory.

Kicking off Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play, No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball (9-2, 1-0 MPSF) swept Concordia University Irvine (5-3, 0-1) at Pauley Pavilion.

No team led by more than one point within the first 22 rallies, a stretch that featured 10 ties. Despite the Eagles’ sub-.150 hitting percentage in the opening set, six Bruin mistakes from the service line kept the frame within reach, including two errors from sophomore setter/opposite Miles Partain.

“As much as we talk about playing one point at a time, … when a player misses a number of serves, he starts thinking about it,” coach John Speraw said.

Partain finished with a career-high seven service errors but broke a personal record with five block assists on the evening.

Sophomore outside hitter Ethan Champlin broke the early deadlock with a serve left untouched by the defense to push the score to 12-10. While Concordia cut down the deficit with a two-point run, it marked the final tie of the frame as UCLA would close out the period with a 25-21 victory.

Champlin said the Bruins’ defense and setting allowed the team’s offense to be successful.

“Our passing was pretty good,” Champlin said. “Concordia has some pretty good servers, and the people passing next to me did pretty well, and Miles put me in good positions to take a swing and keep me confident.”

Concordia’s hitting woes continued into the second set, as it accumulated a negative hitting percentage. Headlined by three players hitting -.273 or lower, as well as a 13-for-38 attack performance with seven errors from opposite Uriel Batista, the Eagles finished with a .106 hitting percentage Wednesday.

UCLA picked up 12 blocks in the victory, including three on Batista, who led Concordia in kills this season with 3.48 per set prior to the match. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Merrick McHenry had a season-high six block assists to pace the Bruins in their best block-assist performance of the 2022 campaign.

(Shane Yu/Daily Bruin)
Redshirt sophomore Merrick McHenry attempts a serve against Concordia University Irvine on Wednesday. McHenry had a season-high six block assists in the victory. (Shane Yu/Daily Bruin)

McHenry said the Eagles’ offensive strategy and the Bruins’ persistence contributed to his team’s blocking numbers.

“It’s pretty different because they were hitting it to the block a lot,” McHenry said. “No matter how many times we have to block the ball or attempt to block the ball in one rally, we’re willing to do that.”

In the second set, a 5-1 UCLA run, including three kills and a service ace from Champlin, gave the Bruins their largest lead of the period at that point. Following that stretch, UCLA raced to a 25-16 second-frame victory, its largest winning margin of any period in the match.

Another Partain service error followed by a reception error from redshirt freshman outside hitter Grant Sloane pushed Concordia ahead by two in the third set – an advantage it would not relinquish for the remainder of the period. Further Bruin attempts to narrow the deficit would prove unsuccessful, as service errors prevented the team from accumulating a run of three points or greater and culminated in a 25-20 defeat.

“We had obviously a number of unforced errors in that third set, which made it a little bit more of a match,” Speraw said.

Amid the mistakes from the line, Champlin set a career high in service aces with six – good for all but two of UCLA’s points in the statistic – to go with a game-high 15 kills.

“Champ is probably the most well rounded volleyball player on our team,” McHenry said. “From volleyball IQ to passing to attacking, he kind of does it all. He does it really well. And he’s a great leader on the court. … I love playing with him so much.”

The final period played to a similar tune as the opening frame, with six ties after the first 16 points. But a 3-0 Bruin run three rallies later, its first such spurt since the end of the second set, pushed the team ahead by four – and for good.

UCLA will face off against Concordia in a rematch in Irvine on Friday evening.

Share this story:FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Bryan Palmero | Daily Bruin senior staff
Palmero is a senior staff writer for Sports. He served as the assistant Sports editor on the softball, beach volleyball, women's volleyball, men's volleyball and men's golf beats from 2021-2022 and a Sports reporter on the beach volleyball and women's volleyball beats in 2021. He is a third-year mathematics and economics student.
Palmero is a senior staff writer for Sports. He served as the assistant Sports editor on the softball, beach volleyball, women's volleyball, men's volleyball and men's golf beats from 2021-2022 and a Sports reporter on the beach volleyball and women's volleyball beats in 2021. He is a third-year mathematics and economics student.
COMMENTS
Featured Classifieds
More classifieds »
Related Posts