Not Fooling Around

Saturday, April 1

Riverside, Calif.

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

7-19, 2-14MPSF

UCLA

17-7, 10-6MPSF

UCLA

California Baptist

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

4/1/2017 10:55:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Sammi Wellman, Director of Sports Information

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Fresh off an epic five-set upset over No. 15-ranked UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, California Baptist University looked to do it again Saturday night against sixth-ranked UCLA. The Lancers took the Bruins to five sets, coming up just short in a 3-2 loss (25-23, 23-25, 25-15, 23-25, 20-18).

CBU drops to 7-19 overall, 2-14 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. UCLA improves to 17-7 on the year and 10-6 in conference.

Rohit Paul led the Lancers with 14 kills on the night, boasting a .387 hitting clip, while Kevin Vaz added nine kills and a team-high 11 digs.

CBU's blocking game was on point, finishing with 19 blocks – compared to the Bruins' 10. Caleb Miller finished with eight blocks, while also boasting a .571 hitting percentage. Enrique de Diego Garcia finished with seven blocks, while Cody Jackson had five to go with 10 digs defensively.

After dropping the first set in a close 25-23 battle, CBU bounced back with a 25-23 set win of its own. The Lancers out-hit the Bruins .444 to .217 to even the match at 1-1.

CBU opened the frame on a 4-1 run off two UCLA errors and kills from Miller and Paul. The three-point lead doubled as Miller, Garcia and Vaz teamed up to stuff a Bruin attempt to put the Lancers up 12-6.

UCLA clawed its way back into the game, tying it at 16-16, but the Lancers were determined to even the match up. A Vaz kill followed by a Jackson Burge solo block put CBU within two points of seeing that come to fruition.

The Bruins stayed alive briefly, but Garcia put the set out of reach with a powerful kill down the middle to give CBU the 25-23 win.

Momentum shifted in the third as UCLA jumped out in front and never looked back to take a 2-1 lead in the match heading into the fourth set.

Once again, however, determination kicked in as the Lancers opened on a 5-1 run to set the tone early. Paul sparked the run with a sideout kill before teaming up with Garcia and Jackson for a block. Two Bruin errors sandwiched a UCLA kill to give CBU the 5-1 upper hand.

The Lancers grabbed some separation with another combo block – Vaz, Miller and Luis Palos – to put the home team in the driver's seat, 10-6.

UCLA made things interesting by tying the set up 23-23, but CBU wouldn't let the Bruins get out of Van Dyne that easily and took the game 25-23 to force a fifth and deciding set.

Like it did on Thursday, the fifth set took extra points for a decision to be made, putting fans on the edge of their seats.

CBU reached match point five times, but couldn't quite get the final dagger in. UCLA snuck away with the 20-18 set victory, however, to take the match 3-2.

The Lancers have just three matches left, heading to USC on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., before hosting the Trojans at home two days later, also at 7:00 p.m.