COSTA MESA – Despite a great buzz Saturday night inside the Freed Center, men's volleyball fell to #1 UCLA in straight sets (18-25, 20-25, 17-25) to finish out their three-game homestand. The Blue and Gold go to 3-6 overall and 0-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while UCLA (10-0, 3-0) marks its best start to a season since 2016.

The Lions were held to a season-low 23 kills and hit .143 (23-14-63) on the evening, a tough third set dipping their overall attack percentage on the contest.

Cole Oliver led the group with seven kills, hitting .385 (7-2-13) and picking up five digs. Grant Veldman and Braddock Duckworth each had four kills, but Veldman had the team-best five digs.

The nation's best offense in UCLA was right around their average hitting stride, terminating at a .429 (41-11-70) rate and piling their largest leads in kills (41-23), blocks (9-2), and digs (24-15).

What Happened?
The Lions never led in set one, but did squeeze out three ties with the Bruins between the first six points (3-3). Brock Henderson, who had 16 assists and two kills, racked one off a joust to snare another Lion point.

A pair of VU attack errors, and a Bruin block and kill soon put the set at 7-4 UCLA. Logan Freemon punched home the next Lion find from the right pin, and VU settled into a 5-2 run thanks to back-to-back kills from Duckworth to trail by two (13-11 UCLA).

A UCLA miscue made it a one-point set, but the game of catch-up continued as the teams equaled a narrow 3-3 split to make it 16-14 Bruins. The NCAA National runners-up unleashed a pair of 4-0 runs to finish the set, as UCLA centered in on a match-high .538 hitting percentage (16-2-26). Veldman netted the only Vanguard kills within the set's conclusion as VU lost 25-17.

Set 2
The Bruins were first on the board, but Freemon and Oliver had the early burst to keep VU on pace. Freemon cracked a kill from the outside, and Oliver cashed in the first Lion ace of the night prior to a tip shot kill over the Bruin triple block (3-2 VU).

The Bruins did give up a block but restored order on a 4-1 run to go up 8-6. The Oliver train kept giving, however, out of the VU timeout, as he continued to feast on the tip shots, putting to kills down in a 5-1 Lion response. Henderson ended the run with an ace to put the home side into double-figures (10-9).

Three sets of ties staggered both teams to 13-all, with VU's Logan Finley connecting on the bic for Vanguard's only kill during the run. UCLA once again had the mid-set magic to pull away, this time heading out a 6-1 run to find a comfortable lead at 19-14. Vanguard matched the Bruins with a 6-6 finish in the frame, but the visitors fired four kills and a walk-off ace to go up 2-0.

Set 3
Vanguard hit .200+ in each of the opening two sets, but slumped to match-low -.105, tallying just four kills with 16 errors (4-6-19). It was UCLA, however, who coughed up the first two errors of the set for a 2-2 score. The Bruins then surrendered six successive errors (service or attack) to keep the Lions scoring consistent, and Finley converted on VU's last ace of the night for a 10-9 Vanguard lead.

UCLA continued to stay on track defensively, but another stack of errors pushed VU up 12 points and counting, before Oliver's hook shot handed the Lions their 13th point of the set for a 13-all scoreline.

That was the final tie of the match, as UCLA, much like the previous set, went for a 6-1 run to steer away. The Bruins buckled into the red zone with a Vanguard service error and wedged back-to-back kills for match point. Two of the last three VU points came by way of Finley, but a Lion service error sealed the defeat in straight sets.

What's Next? It's another top 10-ranked opponent for VU as they head to Pepperdine on Tuesday at 6 p.m.