No. 2/3 UCLA middles too much in win against No. 3/2 Penn State

Middle attackers Guy Genis and Merrick McHenry could do little wrong for No. 2/3 UCLA in a match-up between top-five ranked teams.

The duo combined for 14 kills and zero errors along with 10 blocks as UCLA defeated No. 3/2 Penn State 17-25, 28-26, 25-22, 25-19 on Saturday in Los Angeles at the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge.

Genis in victory finished with eight kills on a match-best .667 attack percentage. This was the second consecutive match at the non-conference event that Genis had more than five kills and zero errors.

McHenry added six kills on a .500 attack percentage and had the game-winning kill in the second-game overtime to prevent the Bruins (3-0, 0-0 MPSF) from dropping into a two-game deficit.

Both Genis and McHenry also led all players with five blocks as UCLA out-blocked Penn State 12 to 6.

The Nittany Lions were held to a season-low .155 attack percentage, including hitting zero in the final game. In addition, the Bruins finished with a .231 attack percentage and had two players who had double-digit kills and hit more than .300.

Outside attack Ethan Champli ended with a match-high 18 kills on a .316 attack percentage. Opposite Kevin Kobrine added 12 kills on a .385 attack percentage with half of those kills coming in the third game.

UCLA won the match despite committing 23 service errors – 10 more errors than Penn State.

Opposite Cal Fisher led Penn State (4-2, 0-0 EIVA) with 16 kills and contributed a match-high 11 digs.

This loss for Penn State comes a day after it suffered a four-game loss to No. 12/10 USC on Friday in its opener of the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. The Nittany Lions entered this non-conference tournament undefeated and opened their season with four straight wins against top-10 nationally ranked teams.