UCLA Bruins achieve a win over Ball State Cardinals
The Outrigger Invitational match between the men’s volleyball teams of Ball State University and the University of California, Los Angeles saw UCLA emerge as the victor.
The match took place at the Stan Sheriff Center, where the University of Hawaii is hosting the 17th annual Outrigger tournament.
The 8th ranked, Bruins, were able to defeat 14th ranked, Ball State Cardinals, by 3-1. The set scores at the end of the match stood at 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 30-28.
Even though the final results were not in favour of Ball State, its players gave commendable performances.
Prominent among the Ball State team was Larry Wrather, who is a sophomore outside attacker. He was the only player, from both teams, who was able to post a total of 17 kills. Out of this figure, three kills at the end of the third set helped Ball State reach
the fourth one.
By the end of the match, Wrather had an attack percentage of .179. He also contributed three blocks and digs each as well as the only solo stuff of the match.
Another Ball State player, who proved to be instrumental in seizing the third set of the match was Dominic Spadavecchio, the junior outside attacker.
The player was able to make consecutive kills. In all, Spadavecchio made five digs and three block assists. The player was also able to add a service ace to his credit.
For UCLA, the pivotal players proved to be Weston Dunlap, Tom Hastings, and Alex Scattareggia. Dunlap contributed 13 kills while both Hastings and Scattareggia were able to achieve the maximum number of digs in their team by making seven of them.
Assisting with the blocks was team mate, Thomas Amberg, who made seven of them. These were the highest number of blocks made by any player on the team.
During the initial set, the first tie was reached at 5-5. After a couple of kills and two aces from Gonzalo Quiroga, UCLA took the lead at 9-5, at which point, Ball State called a timeout.
There were a couple of lead changes after that but in the end, the Cardinals finished off the set by 25-22.
The second set was dominated by UCLA early on. Ball State was not able to take the lead in the entire set even though they got close a couple of times.
The third set brought a bit more of a competitive spirit into Ball State and they were eventually able to win the set.
The Cardinals took the lead at the start of the fourth set but UCLA tied the score at 11-11. After tough competition from both sides and a few lead changes, UCLA were able to defeat Ball State.
Next in line for Ball State is Penn State, which will mark the conclusion of Ball State’s campaign.
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