StarBulletin.com

UCLA cools off Hawaii in 4


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POSTED: Friday, February 05, 2010

This time, Hawaii could only wish for a fifth set.

No. 4 UCLA continued its mastery of the Warriors, downing No. 6 Hawaii for the fourth consecutive meeting.

Senior hitter Garrett Muagututia had a match-high 21 kills and UCLA outblocked Hawaii 16-7.5 en route to a 27-30, 30-25, 30-26, 30-25 victory. A Stan Sheriff Center turnstile crowd of 2,221 watched as the Bruins snapped the Warriors' four-match winning streak in 2 hours and 33 minutes.

Hawaii, getting 16 kills from Jonas Umlauft and 15 from Steven Hunt, dropped to 6-4 overall, 4-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Bruins improved to 5-5 and 4-3.

The teams meet again at 7 tonight.

“;There was no energy,”; Hunt said. “;But tomorrow's a new day. They did nothing we didn't expect. We just didn't execute and they executed.”;

UCLA setter Kevin Ker felt his team had a slow start, hurt by 10 serving errors.

“;I thought our block ended up being phenomenal,”; Ker said. “;We just couldn't get it going early, but we shook off those first-night jitters.”;

As they had the last three matches, the Warriors won Set 1. The Bruins led just once—at 1-0.

Hawaii got out quickly to an 11-6 lead, helped by UCLA's shaky serving and Umlauft's three kills. The Bruins caught the Warriors at 18, thanks to a 3-0 serving run by Jack Polales, but UH coach Charlie Wade decided to let his team play through the rough spot.

Polales served long and the Warriors jumped back out to a 23-19 lead. The Bruins rallied to two three times.

Senior middle Matt Rawson put down his next two swings to give Hawaii set point and at 29-27. The Warriors took the set when Michael Johnson netted his serve, the Bruins' 10th serving error.

A couple of lineup changes helped UCLA change the momentum, with the Bruins taking the lead for good at 12-11. Muagututia, who had carried UCLA in Set 1 with six kills, continued his hot hitting with another five kills, and the Bruins had five blocks in tying the match at 1-1.

Hawaii flopped the lineup, getting a better matchup on the outside in Set 3. Rawson continued his steady presence in the middle, with his solo block on Nick Vogel putting the Warriors ahead for good at 5-4.

Hawaii finally got a handle on Muagututia, putting up a triple block that resulted in a 14-10 lead. UH junior hitter Joshua Walker finally got out of negative hitting percentage, with two kills that pushed the margin to 18-13.

The Bruins would not go quietly, Trailing 22-19, UCLA made up the deficit quickly, with an ace by Vogel sandwiched between kills from Jeremy Casebeer and Muagututia.

The teams traded points until Muagututia's tip shot over the Hawaii block gave the Bruins their first lead at 26-25.

The Warriors had no comeback, as UCLA closed it out with a 4-1 run, to take a 2-1 lead.

Gus Tuaniga replaced Walker in Set 4, giving the Warriors a lift. Hawaii survived some shaky serving of its own, overcoming five service errors, to inch ahead at 12-11.

Muagututia's 19th kill tied it for the 12th and final time at 12-12, jump-starting a 5-0 UCLA spurt that put the Bruins in control at 16-12.

It was 22-19 before Hawaii made a late stand. A kill by Brennon Dyer and a backset from reserve setter Sam Morehouse to reserve senior Joseph Strotman pulled the Warriors to 22-21, forcing UCLA coach Al Scates to call a timeout.

The Bruins came back out, getting another kill from Muagututia and blocks of Hunt and Strotman to stretch their lead back to four. The Warriors simply ran out of room for a serious rally, with Rawson being blocked by Vogel to end it.

 

MPSF Standings

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
 WLPct.GBAll
CSU Northridge61.8339-1
BYU52.71417-3
USC42.6671 1/26-3
Long Beach St.32.60024-4
Hawaii43.57126-4
Stanford43.57124-3
UC Santa Barbara43.57124-6
UCLA43.57125-5
Pepperdine33.5002 1/23-4
UC San Diego14.20042-6
UC Irvine15.1674 1/25-6
Pacific07.00064-7

Yesterday
UCLA def. Hawaii, 27-30, 30-25, 30-26, 30-25
BYU def. UC Irvine, 30-28, 19-30, 23-30, 30-27, 17-15