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It took a late-game comeback, but the defending NCAA champions were able to survive its first road test of the season.
No. 1/1 UCLA rallied from a four-point deficit in the final game as it defeated No. 15 Lewis 25-23, 22-25, 28-26, 25-23 on Thursday in Romeoville, Illinois.
The Bruins trailed 20-16 in the fourth game before going to an 8-2 run that featured back-to-back aces from Preseason All-American opposite Ido David to take a lead the team would not relinquish.
This was the second late-game comeback in the match for the Bruins. UCLA fought off two game-points in the third game overtime and won the game following Lewis committing three consecutive errors.
UCLA in the victory finished with 14 aces – eight more aces than Lewis.
Preseason All-American setter Andrew Rowan had a match-high six aces, including having three aces in the third game. David also had five aces, while outside attacker Zach Rama added two aces.
The Bruins won the match despite being out-hit .273 to .228.
Lewis outside attacker Max Roquet in the loss finished with a match-high 21 kills on a .486 attack percentage. In addition, middle attacker Michael Sack had eight kills and had hit a team-best .636.
Preseason All-American outside attacker Ethan Champlain led UCLA with 14 kills on a .345 attack percentage. Champlain was the only UCLA player to have more than five kills and hit more than .200.
UCLA out-blocked Lewis 15 to 6.5 and had three players with more than five blocks. Middle attacker Guy Genis had a match-high seven blocks, while Rama and middle attacker Merick McHenry each had six blocks.
This victory extends the Bruins’ winning streak to 15 matches dating back to last season.