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Stanford blocks UCLA men’s volleyball’s hopes for MPSF tournament title

Members of No. 1 seed UCLA men’s volleyball shake hands with No. 5 seed Stanford following their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal loss Thursday. The Bruins tied the match after going down two sets to none but could not advance in the fifth set. (Lauren Kim/Daily Bruin)

men’s volleyball


No. 5 seed Stanford3
No. 1 seed UCLA2

By Bryan Palmero

April 21, 2022 7:54 p.m.

In each of their previous two matches, the Bruins had trailed one set to none but emerged victorious.

However, the cliche “third time’s the charm” held true for the blue and gold’s opponent Thursday.

No. 1 seed UCLA men’s volleyball (21-4, 11-1 MPSF) dropped a fifth-set tiebreaker to No. 5 seed Stanford (14-13, 4-8) in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinals at Pauley Pavilion. The blue and gold pulled off two come-from-behind victories against BYU to close the regular season, but could not do the same Thursday night.

“They’re (Stanford’s) a very talented team,” said redshirt junior opposite Kevin Kobrine. “Their record doesn’t show how good they are.”

The Cardinal raced in front first, with outside hitter Will Rottman placing a kill in the middle of the court for the opening score of the match. A 5-1 Stanford run, punctuated by middle blocker Ethan Hill’s service ace, extended UCLA’s deficit to four.

The Bruins responded with a 5-1 spurt of their own, including a service ace from redshirt freshman middle blocker Guy Genis – his eighth of the season – to knot the score at seven apiece. But that rally would mark the frame’s second-to-last tie, as the Cardinal took the advantage for good two rallies later.

Stanford was the only conference opponent to outhit UCLA in a match this season – a game the blue and gold lost March 11 – and through the first set, the same held true. Despite averaging a .377 hitting percentage on the season, the Bruins swung for a .125 clip in the opening frame.

Alluding to UCLA’s previous contest against Stanford, coach John Speraw said his opponent’s personnel challenged his team.

“They present a unique matchup for us,” Speraw said. “They play very hard. Will Rottman’s a great player, and they stuffed a couple balls that were pretty important. Their libero is phenomenal – they have some really nice, key, critical players that played well for them last night.”

 Including back-to-back kills and three consecutive opponent errors, Stanford churned out a 6-1 run to nab a 19-13 advantage. UCLA’s six-point deficit would be its largest deficit of the match, and despite shaving it down to three points on two occasions – including at set point – the Bruins lost 25-21 in the first period.

Down two sets to none in their previous contest – a win over BYU on April 16 – UCLA also played from behind for most of the first two periods Thursday. Besides a brief 3-2 lead following a kill from redshirt sophomore middle blocker Merrick McHenry, the Bruins trailed or were tied for 37 of the second frame’s first 39 rallies.

UCLA’s hitting woes persisted in the frame, with junior outside hitter Alex Knight and freshman outside hitter/opposite Ido David each swinging for a .000 or worse hitting percentage by the conclusion of the set. David, who made his first start at opposite since Feb. 25, was substituted eight points into the period for Kobrine.

Kobrine, who had started in place of David during the regular season, said the blue and gold’s depth comes at the expense of its chemistry.

“We have a really talented team,” Kobrine said. “But there’s challenges that come with it. Me and Ido flop back and forth, so sometimes it’s hard to get in a rhythm. … If we can find out how we can all get into a good rhythm, I think this team is unstoppable.”

Following his entry into the contest, Kobrine tallied a .500 hitting percentage – the most of any Bruin pin hitter – to go with a team-high 13 kills.

UCLA broke even and took its first lead since the fifth rally when it scored three consecutive points, including a kill from Kobrine, to tie the set at 20-20. But following a Stanford timeout, the visitors poured out a 5-2 run, including three straight scores in response for a 25-23 second frame win.

In a third set featuring seven ties, the Bruins came out of the repeated deadlocks with a kill from Genis. With his team ahead 14-12 at that point, redshirt freshman outside hitter Grant Sloane scored next for UCLA, ensuring the team would hold its advantage till the end of the period.

Sloane, who started the third set over Knight, had a team-high three kills in the frame and the set-winning block assist. After the 25-21 third period, UCLA retook the hitting percentage battle.

“Alex was hitting -.400, not really blocking the ball, not passing great,” Speraw said. “I just decided to give it another look. … We had a couple players who haven’t been out there in those situations making some pretty important points for us.”

Sophomore setter/opposite Miles Partain, who set UCLA to the nation’s leading hitting percentage in the regular season, finished with 45 assists to a .308 team hitting clip Thursday.

Partain’s nine assists in the fourth set pushed him in front of Stanford setter Nathan Lietzke in the category. Setting UCLA a .550 hitting percentage in the period – a single-set high for his team – Partain and the blue and gold tied the contest behind a 25-15 win.

Lietzke would retake the match lead for assists in the fifth period to finish with 49. Partain said he didn’t set as well as he wished but commended his team’s outlook during the contest.

“Our team was really supportive,” Partain said. “We kept our heads high and just didn’t pull it through. They played well. I felt I didn’t set too well, but I felt our team attitude was positive and I’m proud of that.”

The Bruins entered the fifth-set tiebreaker winning the first two rallies, but a five-point Cardinal run erased the advantage and forced a timeout from the home team. Unlike their two contests against the Cougars, the Bruins could not win three straight frames against the Cardinal.

While it closed the deficit to one following an ace from David, UCLA gave up a three-point run. Stanford did not look back and won the decisive set 15-11 to advance to the MPSF final.

With the defeat, the Bruins lost for the first time this season at Pauley Pavilion – the site of the NCAA Tournament in May. After failing to automatically qualify, UCLA will await a potential at-large tournament bid Sunday.

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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.
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