Bruins Turn Back Cardinals In Outrigger Hotels Opener
HONOLULU - No. 3 UCLA knocked off Ball State in four sets 30-23, 30-27, 26-30, 30-22 this evening in the opening match of the 14th Outrigger Hotels Invitational at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The Bruins (1-0) jumped out to a huge lead in Game 1 against the Cardinals (0-1) and held off a late run to win 30-23.
In Game 2, Ball State came out stronger out of the gate to lead 20-18, but the Bruins rallied to take six of the next seven points to edge BSU, 30-27.
UCLA held Ball State to a .205 hitting percentage in the match. Individually, the Bruins were led by Garrett Muagututia's match-high 21 kills. Matt Wade and Kevin Ker split the setting duties handing out 28 and 25 assists, respectively.
BSU grabbed an early lead in Game 3 and rode it to a 30-26 win. The Cardinals had their most productive hitting in that game hitting at a .361 clip.
It was all UCLA in Game 4 as the Bruins had their best hitting game posting a .367 average.
The Cardinals were led by Marcus Imwalle who compiled a team-high 17 kills with setter Ethan Pheister dishing out 42 assists.
Tomorrow night, UCLA takes on No. 4 Penn State, while Ball State plays host No. 11 Hawai`i.