Another UCLA men's volleyball match, another five-sets played and a win for coach John Speraw's fifth-ranked squad over seventh-ranked Penn State in a first round match of the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Invitational in Honolulu. HI. Scores of the match were 19-25, 25-18, 18-25, 25-21 and 15-10. UCLA improves to 4-1 on the season with the victory, while Penn State dropped its season-opener in the contest.

In set number five, UCLA took an early 2-1 lead on a kill by Dane Worley. After Penn State evened the score at 7-all, Worley took over with a kill and a pair of aces to send the Bruins ahead 10-7. Clayton Paullin's kill helped the Bruins to an 11-8 margin. A block by Steve O'Dell and Trent Kersten made it 13-9 and the Bruins went on to take a 15-10 decision on a PSU attack error.

In set 1, the Bruins went down early 6-3 before a kill by Worley tied things up at 8-8. Penn State, playing its first match of the season then surged to a 17-12 advantage. UCLA closed to 23-18, but the Nittany Lions remained in control and captured the set 25-19.

In set 2, UCLA took the early advantage at 5-2 on a kill by Kene Izuchukwu. PSU closed to within one at 7-6, before the Bruins moved out to an 11-7 margin on a pair of aces by O'Dell. UCLA maintained its edge at 18-13 before a Robart Page blast ended the set at 25-18.

In set 3, Penn State raced out to a 6-2 edge. The Nittany Lions extended the lead to 12-4 before UCLA narrowed the margin to 13-8 on a couple of Worley kills. Penn State maintained its lead and anther Worley kill made it 20-16, but the Bruins could not sustain the momentum and fell 25-18.

In set 4, UCLA moved out to a 6-2 lead only to see PSU come back to narrow the gap to one, at 10-9. UCLA still led by one after a kill by Worley which made it 16-15. A Page spike made it 18-16 and Michael Beals' ace made it 19-16. A big serve by Page helped the Bruins move ahead 22-17. PSU closed to within three at 23-20, but UCLA held on and sent the match into a final set with a 25-21 win.

Page led UCLA with 17 kills, Izuchukwu and Worley each totaled 13. Evan Mottram topped the Bruins with 15 digs. O'Dell handed out 45 set assists and Worley added five aces for the Bruins who will square off against 10th-ranked Ohio State (1-0, heading into Thursday night's late match with host Hawai'i) on Friday at 6 p.m. PT. UCLA will continue play in the Outrigger Invitational on Saturday against Hawai'i in a match which begins at 9 p.m. PT.

The fifth-ranked Bruins dropped a five-set match to host Hawai'i in the third round of the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Invitational on Saturday night in Honolulu. Scores of the match were 20-25, 25-23, 20-25, 26-24 and 16-14 in favor of UH. UCLA's record fell to 5-2, while the win was the first of the season for Hawai'i, now 1-4 on the year. Both teams played the full five sets in each of their three matches during the Invitational.

In set 5, UCLA opened up leads of 2-0 and 6-4 before Hawai'i rallied to go in front 7-6 and coach John Speraw called a timeout. The Bruins responded with four straight points, taking a 10-7 edge on a UH hitting error. After an Hawaii service ace narrowed the margin to 11-10, a Gonzalo Quiroga spike made it 12-10 for the Bruins. Another Quiroga kill lifted UCLA to a 14-11 cushion and Hawai'i called a timeout. The Bruins would not score another point in the match as Hawai'i took advantage of several UCLA hitting errors down the stretch to come away with a 16-14 win.

In set 1, the Bruins scored the first three points of the night. The match was then tied up at 6, 9, 13 and 16. After Hawai'i grabbed an 18-17 lead, the Bruins came back to go up 19-18 on a kill by Spencer Rowe. A couple of aces by Steve O'Dell made it 24-18. Dane Worley hit off the block for the deciding point in a 25-20 Bruin win.

In set 2, UCLA moved out to a 6-2 lead on an ace by Quiroga. The Bruins still led 14-8 after an ace by Robart Page. However Hawai'i answered with six straight points to even the match at 14-all. Another ace by Quiroga gave UCLA a 17-14 edge and a kill by Worley put the Bruins up 23-21. UH then scored the final four points of the set.

In set 3, the score was tied early at 3, 4 and 5. Hawai'i then went out to a 10-8 margin, before UCLA tied it up at 10. After UH took a 16-14 lead, the Bruins battled back and moved ahead 17-16 on a block by O'Dell and Clayton Paullin. A Scott Vegas ace made it 21-17 and UCLA brought home the win on a block by Page at 25-20.

In set 4, UCLA went up 3-0 and held leads of 10-7 and 12-9 before Hawai'i battled back to tie the score at 13. It would be the first of 11 ties down the stretch as neither team led by more than two points. The set was even at 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 before UH scored the final two points for the win, 26-24.

Page led the Bruins with 18 kills and added 10 digs. Quiroga totaled 15 kills and five aces. Worley spiked 12 balls and recorded eight digs. Evan Mottram had 13 digs. O'Dell handed out 44 set assists on the night.

Page and Worley represented the Bruins on the all-tournament squad. Worley was selected Most Outstanding Player. UCLA returns to MPSF Conference play on Tuesday night when it plays host to Long Beach State at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins will travel to meet UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 18.

Gotta be proud JOD!

The seventh-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team continued its hot hitting and serving Saturday, upsetting No. 4 Pepperdine in Malibu.

Just as they did against USC on Monday, the Bruins kept the Waves off balance by serving tough and hitting efficiently. Set scores were 25-18, 25-17, 25-18. The Bruins sent nearly 1,300 partisan fans away frowning in 76 minutes.

Junior Gonzalo Quiroga tied a personal best by serving six aces in the match. He added five kills (.333) and three block assists for 12.0 points. Junior Dane Worley led the Bruins for the second straight match, connecting on 11 kills (.500) for 12.5 points, while Robart Page added nine kills (.375) for 10.0 points. Freshman setter Steve O'Dell recorded 34 assists, two kills (1.000), a pair of aces and a block assist for 4.5 points.

As a team, the Bruins served 10 aces against 17 errors, while Pepperdine committed 13 errors and served three aces. The Bruins out-hit their hosts .493-.217 as no starter hit below .333.

Josh Taylor led the Waves with 10 kills.

The Bruins return home on Wed., Feb. 27 for a 7 p.m. match against UC Santa Barbara in the John Wooden Center.