Pacific Tigers fall to UCLA Bruins, 1-3 – Volleyball news
The Pacific University men’s volleyball team, which has the official mascot of Tigers, suffered the home loss on Friday night.
The visiting UCLA team provided a hard knock to the Tigers in front of the local supporters and marched away with 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-17, 25-19) victory. The loss moved No. 13 Pacific to an overall record of 7-20 and 4-17 MPSF record. On the other hand,
the winning squad improved to 22-6 on the season with 16-5 MPSF record.
Bruins were supported by senior Thomas Amberg, who contributed 14 kills in the match. The duo of Taylor Hughes and Florian Gornik put up good effort for Pacific but the Tigers could not avoid defeat. Hughes added 16 kills, while Gornik was credited for 11
kills.
The Bruins did not take any influence from the rowdy Pacific fans and made a strong opening in the first set. They added quick points and promptly picked up lead. The Tigers tried to resist but failed to overcome the rivals.
Eventually, the Head Coach of Tigers Joe Wortmann asked for a timeout at 16-18 and sat down with his players to discuss the prospects of the game. The vital timeout benefitted Tigers and they responded with three straight points after the timeout, which
created the tie the score at 18-all.
Later on, the score shifted up with close gaps but Tigers could pass the 22 mark. The visiting squad added final three points to score the set points and claimed opening stanza, 25-22.
In the second set, Bruins had good energy and they played with more confidence. Tigers usually lagged behind and difference of points starched out. UCLA led the scores until hosts came up with convincing attacks and hit the equaliser at 13-13.
The Tigers followed the same strategy and went up on the scoreboard. Hughes and Gornik of Pacific staged an impressive play and led the team to second-set win at 25-21, whereas the game score tied at 1-1.
It was a great comeback from Tigers in the second set and it seemed as if the team got its form back. However, the happiness of Pacific supporters was short-lived as Bruins came back firing in third set. UCLA attackers devastated the defence line of Tigers
and claimed third set with a margin of 8 points, 25-17.
The fourth set also came successful for Bruins and they seized match victory by closing final set of the game at 25-19.
The Tigers will return to action on Saturday when they appear in the final game of the regular season against UC Santa Barbara. The Alex G. Spanos Centre in Stockton, California will host the match in evening. Likewise, the winning Bruins will take on Stanford
Cardinal at the weekend. Palo Alto in California will serve as the venue for Bruins vs. Cardinal Match.
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