'Eaters Best the Bruins in 5

http://www.ucirvinesports.com/sports/m-volley/recaps/030709aaa.html

No. 2 UC Irvine Escapes No. 11 UCLA, 3-2
Jordan DuFault and Carson Clark lead UCI with 21 kills each

March 6, 2009

Final Stats

Los Angeles, Calif. – Sophomore Jordan DuFault and freshman Carson Clark each recorded 21 kills as second-ranked UC Irvine escaped No. 11 UCLA 3-2 (30-26, 30-28, 27-20, 29-31, 15-11) at Pauley Pavilion Friday.

UC Irvine improves to 16-3 overall and remains tied for the MPSF lead with Cal State Northridge at 11-2. The Anteaters and Matadors will battle next Friday at 7:00 p.m. in the Matadome. UCLA falls to 8-11 on the year and 4-8 in league play.

DuFault tied his career-high with 21 kills, while hitting .500 from the outside and recording eight digs. Clark put away 21 kills from the rightside for the second straight MPSF match, while adding three service aces and a career-high 10 digs. Senior Taylor Wilson had nine kills and setter Ryan Ammerman totaled a career-high 66set assists, 11 digs and six total blocks. Freshman Austin D’Amore led all players with eight total blocks and tied his career-high with six kills. Middle blocker Kevin Wynne recorded six total blocks, while outside hitter Cory Yoder came off the bench in the final three sets to add five kills and five digs. Serving specialist Nick Spittle fired three aces.

The Anteaters out-blocked UCLA, 16 to 9 and out-dug the Bruins 50-45. UCI hit .336 for the match, while UCLA hit .261.

UCLA’s Jack Polales had a match-high 22 kills followed by Brett Perrine with 15 kills. Jamey Ker totaled a match-high 15 digs.

UCLA jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the first set, but the Anteaters rallied to tie the score at 6-6 and took their first lead at 9-8 on a Carson Clark kill. Following a 16-16 deadlock, UCI scored the next three points to take the 19-16 advantage. The Bruins closed to 25-23, but back-to-back kills by Clark gave UCI the 27-23 cushion as they went onto the 30-26 victory. Clark put away eight kills in the set.

In the second set, there were 12 ties the last at 19-19 before the Anteaters scored four straight on a pair of Bruin miscues and kills by Jordan DuFault and Austin D’Amore to give UCI the 23-19 edge. UCI continued to lead 25-21 before UCLA out-scored the Anteaters 7-4 to close to 29-28. Jordan DuFault ended the set with a kill, 30-28.

UCLA hit .406 and won the third set 30-27. UCI hit .333, but had seven service errors. The Bruins took a 1-0 lead and never trailed, but watched the Anteaters close to 27-26 on a DuFault ace. The teams each scored a point before the Bruins scored the next two to win the set.

UCI led 17-16 in the fourth set before UCLA committed three straight errors (service error, attack error, ball handling error) to give the Anteaters the 20-16 advantage. UCLA would not go away, tying the set at 24-24 then took a 25-24 lead. The teams would remain tied three more times including 27-27. UCI would then stuff two consecutive attacks to take a 29-27 lead only to watch the Bruins record the next four kills to win the set 31-29.

UCI led 6-3 in the final set, before an Anteater block was followed by two Nick Spittle service aces to extend the margin to 9-3. UCLA narrowed the lead to 13-10 on four consecutive points until a Bruin service error stopped the spurt and gave UCI match point 14-10. A Bruin kill delayed the win, 15-11.

UC Irvine improves to 16-3 overall and remains tied for the MPSF lead with Cal State Northridge at 11-2. The Anteaters and Matadors will battle next Friday at 7:00 p.m. in the Matadome. UCLA falls to 8-11 on the year and 4-8 in league play.